Vittoriosa Stars 0
St Andrew’s 1
Bulgarian forward Trayo Grozev scored three minutes into stoppage time to hand St Andrew’s victory over ten-man Vittoriosa Stars and put the Saints on top of the Division One standings.
The Cottonera side will surely feel hard done by the final outcome as they enjoyed more possession and created the best chances.
But in football, it’s the goals that matter and St Andrew’s netted the all-important winner at the death to move one point clear of Gudja United at the top.
Despite playing with 10 men for most of the second half after the dismissal of Felipe Canavan, Arturo Di Napoli’s side were always in command with the Saints adopting a counter-attacking approach.
The first half was a drab affair with scoring chances few and far between but the game came to life after the change of ends.
St Andrew’s threatened in the first minute when Emiliano Lattes drove the ball just wide following good work from Grozev.
Vittoriosa responded five minutes later when Mark Barbara’s effort flew just wide of the Saints’ goal.
Barbara went close again on 32 minutes but this time his effort was blocked by a defender following a cross by Gianluca Calabretta who was making his debut for the Stars.
Two minutes from the break, Kyrian Nwoko almost gave St Andrew’s the lead but his effort finished inches wide.
Vittoriosa suffered a blow two minutes into the second half when Canavan was shown a second yellow card for a handling infringement.
Despite this setback, Vittoriosa were dangerous on 58 minutes as Francisco Arriagada Mella’s free-kick was kept out by Jake Galea.
Two minutes later Carl Sammut nearly deceived the Saints custodian but his lob finished just over.
On 68 minutes Grozev moved past two defenders before seeing his rising shot end just over.
Calabretta should have won it for Vittoriosa in stoppage time when he latched on to a long ball but his shot skimmed the upright.
The Stars paid dearly for this miss as minutes later Grozev picked up a loose ball to fire the ball home.
Vittoriosa Stars: K. Magri, M. Camilleri (F. Arriagada Mella), K. Scicluna, M. Barbara (G. Sultana), G. Calabretta, F. Canavan, E. Henrique Guedes, M. Buttigieg, C. Sammut (G. Martin), C. Campagnoli, C. Spiteri.
St Andrew’s: J. Galea, L. Busuttil (J. Walker), L. Grech, B. Said, M. Johnson, D. Camilleri, J. Farrugia, K. Nwoko (M. Scicluna), M. Guillaumier (N. Bradshaw), T. Grozev, E. Lattes.
Referee: Emmanuel Grech.
Man of the match: Emiliano Lattes (St Andrew’s).
Division One summaries
Rabat Ajax 0
Gżira United 1
Rabat Ajax: J. Azzopardi, S. Gauci (D. Galea), W. Borg, J. Caruana, B. Micallef, D. Falzon, N. Caruana, L. Chiedozie, E. Scicluna, C. Vella, A. Azzopardi.
Gżira United: A. Curmi, N. Milovanovic, D. Vukovic, S. Meilak, M. Avila-Perez, J. Pace, G. Aquilina, J. Mifsud, J. Nwoba (D. Agius), E. Ndjodo (A. Ewurum), R. Dalli (J. Camilleri).
Referee: Jude Amin Utulu.
Scorer: Milovanovic 1.
Red card: Mifsud (GU) 89.
Man of the match: Moises Avila-Perez (Gżira).
Żurrieq 0
Birżebbuġa St Peter’s 1
Żurrieq: J. Alden, M. Attard, A. Agius (D. Zammit), E. Sevasta, K. Sacco, D. Darmanin, R. Bakare, S. Azzopardi (G. Ghigo), M. Schembri (M. Mifsud), J. Ogunnupe, S. Bale.
Birżebbuġa SP: A. Boatto, J. Xerri (G. Camilleri), J. Briffa, L. Santoiemma (N. Clerico), L. Micallef, K. Muscat, J. Ani (P. Camilleri), E. Bonati, G. Caruana, L. Camilleri, S. Eboh.
Referee: Andre Arciola.
Scorer: Eboh 77.
Red card: Briffa (B) 81.
Man of the match: Keith Muscat (Birżebbuġa).
Melita 4
Msida SJ 0
Melita: P. Schranz, N. Micallef, R. Alinho, E. Cornago, L. Bianco, M. Fenech (K. Coleiro), M. Valenzia, J.P. Attard, J. Galea (K. Micallef), A. Borg Olivier, A. Eby (F. Mennini Righini).
Msida St Joseph: K. Rizzo, L. Cassar, S. Vella (D. Azzopardi), R. Faria, D. Cachia, I. Chircop (R. Spiteri), K. Borg, U. Anyanwu (G. Murakami), Z. Vukovic, G. Vella, R. Forace.
Referee: Marco Borg.
Scorers: Valenzia 12 pen; Eby 36; Attard 62; Bianco 65.
Man of the match: Julian Galea (Melita).
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| St Andrew’s | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 29 | 22 | 29 |
| Gudja Utd | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 30 | 13 | 28 |
| Gżira Utd | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 28 | 18 | 28 |
| Pembroke | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 13 | 26 |
| Melita | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 16 | 26 |
| Vittoriosa | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 24 | 20 | 22 |
| St George’s | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 20 | 22 |
| Lija Athletic | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 23 | 22 | 22 |
| Fgura Utd | 14 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 15 | 20 |
| Mqabba | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 22 | 26 | 17 |
| Rabat Ajax | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 17 |
| Msida SJ | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 14 | 30 | 14 |
| Żurrieq | 15 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 13 | 30 | 10 |
| Birżebbuġa | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 34 | 9 |