St George’s 2
Vittoriosa Stars 1

St George’s jolted Vittoriosa Stars’ promotion aspirations after winning the Cottonera derby 2-1 thanks to Larson Mallia’s first-half brace.

The Saints’ supporters celebrated loudly at the final whistle as the team from Cospicua narrowed the gap on their neighbours to just one point to revive their hopes of a top-three finish.

The early stages of yesterday’s derby were balanced with the first noteworthy effort coming after 10 minutes when Diego Perreira did everything by himself but his low effort was saved by Claude Carbonaro, the St George’s goalkeeper.

Vittoriosa again came close three minutes later when Liam Gauci found Sheldon Grech unmarked but the latter’s close-range drive was again stopped by Carbonaro.

It was St George’s who took the lead on 23 minutes when Mallia dribbled past two defenders as he ran into the penalty area and scored with a low shot despite being marked by two other players.

Two minutes later, Vittoriosa Stars defender Kenneth Scicluna served Grech but Carbonaro came out to block the midfielder’s run.

St George’s missed a golden opportunity to double their lead on 28 minutes when Bruno Chikwado stole the ball in the heart of the Stars’ defence but the Saints striker was erratic in front of goal after he tried to dribble Vittoriosa goal-keeper Karl Magri.

The Saints made it 2-0 on 31 minutes when Mark Tanti’s free-kick fell kindly to Mallia who fired home from close in.

The game remained interesting after the break.

On 54 minutes, St George’s wing-back Brandon Muscat hit a half-volley from the edge of the area but Magri pushed the ball away.

From the resulting corner, taken by Muscat, Daniel Zerafa wasted a glorious opportunity as he headed wide from point blank.

Vittoriosa responded on 57 minutes when substitute Felipe Canavan’s inswinging corner created a melee inside the Saints box with a defender clearing off the line.

Two minutes later, Canavan went close again after his free-kick was magnificently turned away by Carbonaro.

From the flag-kick, taken by Canavan, the Saints custodian managed to get a hand to the ball to prevent it from crossing the line.

Arturo Di Napoli’s side reduced the arrears with a fine free-kick from Canavan on 62 minutes.

Vittoriosa continued to pile up the pressure but the Saints defence, marshalled by Noah Olawale Ojuola, weathered the storm.

St George’s: C. Carbonaro, R. Vella, R. Tanti, M. Borg, N. Ojuola, E. Amaira, D. Zerafa, M. Tanti (Liam Mallia), Larson Mallia (R. Brignoli), B. Muscat (O. Giordano), B. Chikwado.

Vittoriosa: K. Magri, L. Vella Critien, C. Spiteri, K. Scicluna, C. Campagnoli, S. Grech, G. Calabretta (G. Sultana), N. Lamine (F. Canavan), L. Gauci, M. Camilleri, D. Perreira (H. Guedes Eder).

Referee: Fyodor Zammit.

Man of the match: Larson Mallia(St George’s).

Summaries

Pembroke Athleta 2
Gżira United 0

Pembroke: A. Cassar, C. Mamo, O. Sidibe, G. Azzopardi (S. Chircop), A. Azzopardi, S. Arab (S. Magro), A. Agius, D. Sammut, A. Laudisi (T. Alade), L. Micallef, R. Bajada.

Gżira: A. Curmi, J. Ani (J. Camilleri), D. Scerri, D. Vukovic, S. Meilak, M. Avila Perez, I. Meli (D. Agius), G. Aquilina, J. Mifsud, J. Nwoba, E. Ndjodo (R. Dalli).

Referee: Marco Borg.

Scorers: Micallef 17; Laudisi 43.

Man of the match: O. Sidibe (Pembroke Athleta).

Birżebbuġa St Peter’s 1
Lija Athletic 5

Birżebbuġa: I. Cassar, S. Eboh, D. Grech, G. Caruana, A. Ewurum, D. Cucciardi (R. Micallef), L. Micallef, E. Luiz Bonati, J. Briffa (K. Muscat), L. Camilleri, L. Santoimma (N. Clerico).

Lija: J. Spiteri, N. Spiteri, L. Casha, P. Borg, A. Caruana, B. Antignolo, I. McCarthy (K. Hendry), C. Frendo (R. Taliana), D. Mintoff, A. Ige, E. Beu (A. Galea).

Referee: Martin Borg.

Scorers: N. Spiteri (L) 30; Ige (L) 39, 69, 86; Ewurum (B) 48; Hendry (L) 73.

Man of the match: A. Ige (Lija).

Rabat Ajax 1
St Andrew’s 2

Rabat: J. Azzopardi, N. Caruana, J. Caruana (L. Cauchi), S. Gauci, W. Borg, B. Micallef, D. Falzon, L. Chiedozie, A. Azzopardi, D. Azzopardi, Z. Tanti (A. Smeir).

St Andrew’s: J. Galea, N. Vella Petroni (J. Walker), M. Sehitaj, B. Said, M. Johnson, D. Camilleri, M. Guillaumier, J. Farrugia, M. Desira Buttigieg (M. Scicluna), K. Nwoko (T. Grozev), E. Lattes.

Referee: Jude Utulu.

Scorers: Desira Buttigieg (SA) 27, 71; Smeir (RA) 81.

Man of the match: M. Desira Buttigieg (St Andrew’s).

Playing today
Centenary Stadium: 19.30 Gudja United vs Fgura United.

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
St Andrew’s	22	14	3	5	44	29	45
Pembroke	22	13	4	5	43	19	43
Fgura Utd	21	10	9	2	29	21	39
Melita	22	12	2	8	29	23	38
Gżira Utd	22	11	3	8	36	27	36
Vittoriosa	22	10	5	7	39	35	35
Gudja Utd	21	9	7	5	36	23	34
St George’s	22	9	7	6	37	31	34
Lija Athletic	22	10	1	11	37	38	31
Mqabba	22	8	5	9	33	34	29
Rabat Ajax	22	6	4	12	23	35	22
Żurrieq	22	5	3	14	23	38	18
Msida SJ	22	4	2	16	22	47	14
Birżebbuġa	22	3	3	16	24	55	12