Msida St Joseph 1
Gżira United 6

Gżira hit six goals past lowly Msida to go fourth in the table and keep alive their hopes of finishing third in the standings that would earn them a play-off against the third bottom side in the Premier League.

On the other hand, this defeat pushed Msida closer to relegation as they remained second bottom on 14 points, eight adrift of third from bottom Rabat.

Gżira quickly seized the initiative and on ten minutes Yanis Tonna put them ahead when he fired home from the edge of the area.

Msida soon responded and drew level on 16 minutes when Stacey Vella headed home from Anywannu’s cross.

Darren Abdilla’s side regained their lead on 35 minutes when Camilleri floored Tonna in the area and from the resultant penalty Moises Avila Perez drilled home.

Gżira could have struck again on 43 minutes when Avila Perez’s effort was cleared by Schembri.

The Maroons were awarded a second penalty on 55 minutes when Ryan Dalli was brought down in the area by Schembri. From the spot, Dalli sent Camilleri the wrong way.

Fourteen minutes from time, substitute Paolo Dandolo slotted home following a John Nwoba cross.

With three minutes to go Nwoba made it 5-1 and two minutes later Carabott completed the rout following a melee inside the area.

Msida SJ: M. Camilleri, S. Schembri (R. Spiteri), L. Cassar, S. Vella, K. Borg, Z. Vukovic (D. Tanti), I. Chircop (C. Saliba), D. Cachia, L.J. Agius, R. Faria, U. Anyanwu.

Gżira: A. Curmi, J. Ani (J. Nwoba), D. Scerri, J. Camilleri, D. Vukovic, M. Avila Perez (M. Carabott), I. Meli, G. Aquilina, D. Agius (P. Dandolo), R. Dalli, Y. Tonna.

Referee: Sandro Spiteri.

Man of the match: R. Dalli (Msida).

Birżebbuġa relegated

Vittoriosa Stars 4
Birżebbuġa 1

Vittoriosa Stars eased past Birżebbuġa St Peter’s to go fifth in the standings and condemn Birżebbuġa to relegation.

The Cottonera side dictated matters for long stretches and took just 11 minutes to take the lead.

Liam Gauci was at the right spot to tap the ball home following a Carlos Compagnoli cross.

Five minutes later Camilleri found Guedes whose drive from an acute angle hit the side-netting.

On 29 minutes Michael Camilleri headed wide with only the goalkeeper to beat after a Sheldon Grech cross.

Arturo Di Napoli’s side made it 2-0 when Felipe Canavan profited from some hesitant defending from the Birżebbuġa rearguard to shoot into the bottom corner of the net.

Vittoriosa continued to play the better football in the second half and on 57 minutes the Stars put the game to bed when a Canavan free-kick was nodded towards Camilleri who hit home.

Camilleri struck again on 71 minutes when he drove home following a Gauci cross.

Birżebbuġa pulled a goal back two minutes from time when Edison Luiz Bonati sped into the area and hit past Magri.

Vittoriosa could have scored a couple more in the closing stages but were too careless infront of goal.

Vittoriosa: K. Magri, S. Grech, C. Compagnoli, L. Gauci (R. Degorgio), L. Vella Critien (J.C. Galea), M. Camilleri, K. Scicluna, E. Guedes (F. Arriagada Mello), M. Buttigieg, F. Canavan, C. Spiteri.

Birżebbuġa: A. Boatto, L. Camilleri, D. Grech (S. Eboh), J. Briffa, K. Muscat, G. Camilleri (R. Micallef), L. Micallef, E. Bonati, G. Caruana, J. Xerri, L. Santoiemme (N. Clerico).

Referee: Jude Amin Utulu .

Man of the match: F. Canavan (Vittoriosa).

Standings

Playing today: (Centenary Stadium) 20.00 Melita vs St George’s.