Sliema 0
Tarxien 2
Azzopardi 75 pen, Hevia 83;
Ayrton Azzopardi came off the bench to inspire Tarxien to victory after scoring a 75th-minute penalty and set up a second goal against ten-man Sliema yesterday.
It was a deserved victory for the Rainbows who worked their socks off despite losing Alex Alves to injury in the first half but found their match-winning card in Azzopardi.
Prior to kick-off defender Manuel Caruana was presented a memento from club president Tony Cassar as he was making his 300th appearance for Tarxien.
Shorn of creative trio Mark Scerri, Pedrinho and Aidan Friggieri, all suspended, and the injured Michael Mifsud, the Wanderers struggled to create any danger early on.
Instead, it was Tarxien who almost broke the deadlock on 22 minutes when from a free-kick Joao Pedro’s shot was deflected just past the upright.
Tarxien then failed to clear the ball from a corner action and in came Michele Sansone who fired over. Scoring chances remained few and far in between as the match was marred by scrappy play.
Danilo had a golden opportunity on 37 minutes when he was played through by Azzopardi but was denied by goalkeeper Glenn Zammit.
Sliema increased their urgency on the restart and Alex Muscat found space in the Tarxien box but his low shot was dealt with by Andrea Cassar, the Tarxien keeper.
Kyle Hendry missed a glorious opportunity for Sliema right on the hour when he was picked at the far post by Muir’s cross but the Scottish forward fired over from in front of goal.
Six minutes later, Zammit had to be alert to keep out Triston Caruana’s menacing grounder.
Tarxien got the breakthrough 17 minutes from time when they were awarded a penalty after Hevia was brought down in the area by Zammit. The referee dismissed the Sliema no.1 and Azzopardi beat reserve keeper Entojo Elezaj from the spot.
Sliema lost their plot and Azzopardi and Hevia combined again eight minutes later when the former delivered an inviting ball towards the box and the Spaniard headed the ball past Elezaj.
Sliema Wanderers
G. Zammit, A. Muscat-6, C. Gatt Baldacchino-5, R. Dalli-5, M. Potezica-5 (80 J. Mintoff), M. Sansone-5, P. Xuereb-5 (74 E. Elezaj), K. Hendry-5 (75 R. Ledesma), G. Muir-6.5, S. Bianciardi-6, L. Dimech-6.
Tarxien Rainbows
A. Cassar-6, M. Caruana-6.5, Bruno-6.5, T. Tabone Desira-6, T. Caruana-6 (86 R. Bajada), Danilo-5.5 (63 Anderson-6), C. Hevia-7.5, D. Zerafa-6, A. Alves (29 A. Azzopardi-7.5), M. Tabone-6, J. Pedro-5.5.
Referee: Philip Farrugia.
Yellow cards: Muscat, Xuereb, Hevia.
Red card: Zammit (SW) 73.
BOV player of the match: Carlos Hevia (Tarxien).
Playing today (National Stadium)
18.30 Floriana vs Mosta
20.30 Balzan vs Hibernians