Pieta Hotspurs 1
Senglea Athletic 0

Three bizarre minutes for Senglea early in the second half proved costly. First, they conceded a goal and, then, they had striker Terrence Scerri sent off for Pieta to chalk up their ninth win and move to third place in the standings.

As happened in the first round, when the final score was 0-0, it was another tight encounter between these two teams.

However, this time Pieta kept it calm as Senglea lost their nerves to stay in fourth position, three points away from the promotion play-off slot.

The first 45 minutes saw Senglea taking more risks than their opponents. After only eight minutes an Emiliano Lattes shot from 25 metres out took a deflection before flying just wide.

The Cottonera outfit continued to attack. A strong run by Miguel Ciantar saw him beating a couple of defenders but his effort lacked precision.

However, the best opportunity fell to Pieta on 32 minutes when Karl Micallef’s drive was cleared by the Senglea defence.

The second half started with John Emeka testing the Senglea keeper with a shot and from the corner, taken by Mead Mifsud, Micallef’s header bounced off the bar and in rushed young James Scicluna who scored from close in.

Senglea lost control and three minutes later Scerri got sent off for showing dissent.

On 62 minutes, Obaje Aud-Gustine’s header from a corner finished wide as Senglea tried to get back despite playing with a man less on the field.

Then, with nine minutes to go, numerical parity was restored when Micallef received a second booking for time wasting.

Senglea tried their best to avoid defeat but the Hotspurs’ defence, marshalled by the influential Jason Gorskie, held tight to preserve their slender lead.

Pieta: M. Montfort, K. Micallef, T. Bartolo, D. Agius, M. Mifsud, J. Emeka (R. Harrevelt), J. Gorskie, C. Grech, W. Rizgilla, N. Ghio (A. Mizzi), J. Scicluna (J. Busuttil).

Senglea: J. Farrugia, R. Vella, F. Gusman, K. Tanti, C. Cassar (M. Del Negro), P. Doffo, M. Ciantar, T. Scerri, E. Lattes (D. Sytnik), J. Obaje Aud-Gustine, R. Dalli (J. Farrugia).

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.

Player of the match: Jason Gorskie (Pieta Hotspurs).

Summaries

San Ġwann 1
Fgura United 1

San Ġwann: M. Towns, R. Zammit, J. Briffa, S. Vella, J. Azzopardi, A. Borg (G. Agius), N. Muscat, B. Abehanga, I. Zammit (Z. Bowman), D. Henry (F. Udoh Okon), J. Cutajar.

Fgura: R. Marmara, Q. Bregman, D. Vukovic, J. Bugeja, D. Attard (R. Costa), J. Farrugia (T. Camilleri), F. Arriagada, A. Farrugia, J.M. Ruiz Perez, L. Vella Critien, S. Shead (C. Vella).

Referee: Fyodor Zammit.

Scorers: Muscat (SĠ) 48, Arriagada (FU) 89.

Red card: Briffa (SĠ) 69.

Best player: Nikolai Muscat (San Ġwann).

Żebbuġ Rangers 3
Gudja United 1

Żebbuġ: D. Galea, G. McKay, A. Agius, K. Grima, T. Paris, M. Gauci, C. Pace, K. Vella, R. Spiteri, L. Galea, D. Pereira Fernando.

Gudja United: D. Balzan, E. Azzopardi, S. Micallef, T. Nappa Licari, C. Grech, R. Perkins, G. Chircop, M. Schembri, D. Xuereb, J. Clifford, D. Sohna.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Scorers: L. Galea (ŻR) 3, Agius (ŻR) 22, Sohna (GU) 59, Gauci (ŻR) 90.

Red card: Grima 85 (ŻR)

Best player: Aaron Agius (Żebbuġ Rangers).

Mqabba 2
Rabat Ajax 1

Mqabba: J. Debono, D. Aquilina (M. Bonnici), A. Abela, C. Farrugia, J. Borg, A. Mello da Silva, A. Demir (I. Galea), C. Calleja, K. Cutajar, K. Farrugia (B. Grech), G. Adamovic.

Rabat: J. Azzopardi, N. Caruana, J. Caruana, B. Micallef, C. Vella (A. Smeir), D. Falzon (W. Borg), L. Chiedozie, E. Scicluna, A. Azzopardi, D. Azzopardi, Z. Tanti.

Referee: Etienne Mangion.

Scorers: Adamovic (M) 18, Calleja (M) 79, Chiedozie (R) 90.

Best player: Claudio Calleja (Mqabba).

Standings

  P W D L F A Pts
Gżira Utd 16 12 4 0 35 7 40
Ħamrun 15 11 3 1 32 12 36
Pietà 16 9 4 3 20 13 31
Senglea 16 9 1 6 23 15 28
Lija 15 7 1 7 24 16 22
Żebbuġ 16 6 4 6 18 17 22
Fgura Utd 16 6 4 6 15 19 22
Vittoriosa 15 5 5 5 21 16 20
Rabat Ajax 16 6 2 8 21 21 20
Mqabba 16 5 4 7 16 19 19
Melita 16 6 1 9 14 28 19
San Ġwann 16 2 5 9 15 33 11
St George’s 15 2 4 9 8 21 10
Gudja Utd 16 2 2 12 10 35 8

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