St George’s 1
Żurrieq 1

Żurrieq managed to snatch a precious point in their fight against relegation when they came from a goal behind to take a point against St George’s.

The Cottonera side had looked odds on for the victory after deservedly taking the lead and created the better chances. But they failed to get a second goal that would have settled the match and that proved costly as Żurrieq fought back to score a late equaliser.

The result left Żurrieq third from bottom but have now bridged the gap on rivals Rabat Ajax to four points with five matches left.

It was St George’s who seized the initiative and on five minutes Mbonu Chikwado missed the target following a melee inside the area.

At the other end, Matthew Schembri tried his luck from the distance with Carbonaro saving well.

Midway through the first half Patrick Curmi’s side came close to taking the lead when the unmarked Mbono headed wide from a Larson Mallia cross.

A minute from the break, Żurrieq missed a sitter when JoJo Ogunnupe was freed in the box by Agboebina, but the Nigerian striker’s shot lacked power and Carbonaro blocked.

That proved costly as in stoppage time Mallia hit a curling drive that flew into the net.

Żurrieq came close to an equaliser on 59 minutes when Ogunnupe set up Joseph Okonkwo who was denied by Carbonaro and the Saints goalkeeper then pushed away Ogunnupe’s shot.

Żurrieq drew level with four minutes to go when Ogunnupe drove the ball home following an Aaron Agius free-kick.

The Reds could have won it in stoppage time but substitute Stephen Azzopardi saw his header cleared off the line by David Camilleri.

St George’s: C. Carbonaro, D. Zerafa, B. Mbono Chikwado, B. Muscat, N. Ojoula, E. Amaira, Larson Mallia (D. Dituala), R. Vella, R. Tanti, M. Borg, Liam Mallia (D. Camilleri).

Żurrieq: J. Alden, M. Attard (S. Azzopardi), E. Sevasta, K. Sacco, G. Ghigo, D. Darmanin (K. Saliba), M. Schembri, A. Agius, J. Okonkwo (D. Zammit), O. Agboebina, J. Ogunnupe.

Referee: Jude Amin Utulu.

Man of the match: Brandon Muscat (St George’s).

Vittoriosa Stars 4
Lija Athletic 1

Vittoriosa Stars revived their promotion aspirations when they eased past Lija Athletic yesterday.

This was the fourth successive victory for Arturo Di Napoli’s team who have now climbed to fifth place in the standings on 35 points, level with Melita and four adrift of leaders Pembroke who, however, have a game in hand.

Lija were better side for much of the opening hour.

The clock marked eight minutes when Isaac McCarthy found Adeshina Ige who was denied by Karl Magri. Moments later the Stars goalkeeper did well to block Erjon Beu’s shot.

Lija took the lead on 23 minutes when Ige pounced on to a Cleaven Frendo through pass to hit home from inside the box.

Four minutes later Vittoriosa could have made it 1-1 when Luca Casha handled in the box following a Malcolm Buttigieg effort. But from the spot, Michael Camilleri saw his effort pushed away by Luca Bonnici.

On the stroke of half time it was Magri who saved his side when he blocked McCarthy’s close-range effort.

Frendo almost put Lija 2-0 ahead on 54 minutes but his shot hit the bar and from the rebound Casha bundled the ball home but the ‘goal’ was annulled for offside.

Vittoriosa drew level on 65 minutes when McCarthy handled the ball inside the area and from the spot Henrique Guedes beat Bonnici.

The Stars went 2-1 up on 70 minutes when Felipe Canavan’s low drive rolled into the net via the upright.

With 13 minutes left, Lija suffered a setback when Predrag Babic was shown a second yellow card and was sent off.

Vittoriosa quickly pounced on their numerical advantage as a minute later Canavan made it 3-1.

A minute from time Guedes was fouled by Patrick Borg in the box and Gauci made no mistake from the penalty spot.

Vittoriosa: K. Magri, M. Buttigieg, C. Spiteri, K. Scicluna, L. Gauci, G. Sultana (R. Mifsud) C. Compagnoli, N. Lamine (F. Canavan), G. Calabretta, M. Camilleri, D. Perreira (E. Guedes).

Lija: L. Bonnici, M. Clinch, E. Beu, L. Casha (K. Hendry), C. Frendo, P. Babic, B. Antignolo, N. Spiteri, A.Ige, P. Borg, I. McCarthy (D. Mintoff).

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Man of the match: Felipe Canavan (Vittoriosa Stars).

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Pembroke	20	12	3	5	40	18	39
St Andrew’s	20	12	3	5	40	27	39
Gżira Utd	20	11	3	6	35	23	36
Fgura Utd	20	9	9	2	27	20	36
Melita	20	11	2	7	27	21	35
Vittoriosa	21	10	5	6	38	33	35
Gudja Utd	20	8	7	5	34	22	31
St George’s	21	8	7	6	35	30	31
Lija Athletic	21	9	1	11	32	37	28
Mqabba	20	7	4	9	30	32	25
Rabat Ajax	20	6	4	10	21	31	22
Żurrieq	21	5	3	13	23	37	18
Msida SJ	21	4	2	15	21	43	14
Birżebbuġa	21	3	3	15	23	50	12