Żejtun Corinthians 0
Vittoriosa Stars 3
Vittoriosa Stars joined Lija Athletic at the top on 41 points as the tight race for promotion continues.
Marcelo Pereira again showed his true mettle for the Stars. He scored two goals and, with a little more luck, could have had a hat-trick as Żejtun were streets behind their opponents yesterday.
Vittoriosa almost took the lead on four minutes but Siraj Arab blasted wide after barging his way past a couple of defenders.
Oliver Spiteri’s men were finding the Corinthians defence hard to break down, so patience was needed to find a way through.
Pereira was unlucky when his shot hit the post but on the half-hour mark he received a perfect ball from Samir Arab before beating the Żejtun keeper.
Vittoriosa made it 2-0 on 38 minutes. The move was started by Sheldon Grech. He released Malcolm Buttigieg who squared the ball towards Pereira and the latter blasted into the net.
The Stars lifted their foot off the accelerator in the second half but still held control. On the hour a Pereira drive was turned to a corner by the Żejtun keeper.
A Gary Muir free-kick was again stopped by Jurgen Borg but six minutes from time the Stars sealed the issue with a Lyden Micallef goal from a Siraj Arab centre.
Żejtun were then reduced to 10 men after captain Charlò Magro was shown a straight red for dissent.
Żejtun: J. Borg, E. Azzopardi, R. Degabriele (B. Schembri), C. Magro, M. Pisani, K. Vassallo (G. Mifsud), A. Farrugia, J. Spiteri (J. Galea), K. Abela, O. Majtara, K. Zahra.
Vittoriosa: J.M. Vella, R. Brincat, M. Buttigieg (L. Micallef), M. Pereira (E. Qordja), L. Vella Critien, M. Tabone, R. Dos Santos (L. Gauci), G. Muir, S. Grech, Sirja Arab, Samir Arab.
Referee: Karl Frendo Cumbo.
Man of the match: Marcelo Pereira (Vittoriosa Stars).
Marsaxlokk 1
Lija Athletic 5
Two goals from Beppe Antignolo, a brilliant display by Abdullahi Ige and a fine goal by Leontiev Konda steered Lija to a 5-1 win over Marsaxlokk.
Lija, who leapfrogged Pietà at the top, thus avenged their 4-1 first-round defeat to Marsaxlokk.
They broke the deadlock after five minutes. Antignolo’s shot was partially saved by Omar Borg, the Marsaxlokk goalkeeper, but the Lija striker scored from the rebound.
Brian Spiteri’s side continued to run the show. After eight minutes, Bulgarian Konda fired over .
Marsaxlokk responded in the 13th minute when a Douglas Da Silva Silveira free-kick ended high.
Midway into the first half, Lija came close again when Ige dribbled past Mark Brincat and crossed for Konda whose shot was deflected away for a corner by Ryan Mifsud.
Two minutes before the break, Ige’s point-blank effort was blocked by Borg who also saved well from Evano Briffa.
Lija doubled their lead three minutes into the second half when Ige swept past three defenders before firing past Borg.
Seven minutes later, Dion Fava was unlucky not to reduce the arrears when his drive hit the post.
On the hour, Lija were denied by Borg who tipped away Antignolo’s chip. Two minutes later, Marsaxlokk pulled one back when Andre Grabowski ran on to a Ryan Xuereb pass to hit home from close in.
Lija could have restored their two-goal lead seconds later but Beu’s drive was off target.
On 70 minutes, Ige had another effort repelled by Borg and from the rebound, Briffa drove wide.
Lija did score a third 18 minutes from time, Antignolo slotting the ball home after good work by Ige and Beu.
Lija’s fourth goal, 10 minutes from time, was special as Konda dribbled past six players before hitting home.
Three minutes later, Beu rounded the scoring after a solo move.
Marsaxlokk: O. Borg, R. Mifsud, K. Scicluna, D. Fava, G. Caruana, R. Xuereb (M. Caruana), R. Mangion (D. Attard), D. Da Silva Silveira, M. Brincat, P. Paris, A. Grabowski (M. Grech).
Lija: L. Bonnici, C. Giordmaina, M. Fleri Soleri, D. Scerri (D. Mintoff), E. Beu (E. Borg), D. Vukovic, L. Konda, E. Briffa, A. Scicluna, B. Antignolo, A. Ige (R. Goncalves).
Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.
Man of the match: Abdullahi Ige (Lija).
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Lija Athletic | 20 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 41 | 27 | 41 |
| Vittoriosa | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 34 | 23 | 41 |
| Pietà Hotspurs | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 41 | 20 | 39 |
| Naxxar Lions | 19 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 40 | 20 | 37 |
| St Andrew’s | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 40 | 29 | 36 |
| Marsaxlokk | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 33 | 37 | 29 |
| Gudja United | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 30 | 28 | 26 |
| Żejtun Cor. | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 29 | 21 |
| Gżira United | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 27 | 20 |
| Birżebbuġa | 19 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 26 | 41 | 16 |
| Dingli | 20 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 43 | 13 |
| Mqabba | 19 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 22 | 39 | 8 |