Pieta Hotspurs 2
Birżebbuġa SP 0

Pieta Hotspurs are back at the top of the standings after a deserved 2-0 win over mid-table side Birżebbuġa at the Tedesco Stadium, yesterday.

The Hotspurs could have won by a wider margin had it not been for the seasiders’ goalkeeper Christian Cassar who came to his side’s rescue on a number of occasions.

Birżebbuġa had a goal disallowed early on and Pieta were unlucky when a Ricardo Costa Varella cross shot hit the bar.

Pieta continued to hold the upperhand and went close again when a Raphael Kooh Sohna effort was stopped by the alert Cassar.

However, there was little Cassar could have done on 33 minutes when Costa Varella released Kooh Sohna who scored albeit from a dubious offside position.

Pieta continued to play the better football and after a Costa Varella header finished just over, four minutes from half-time Kooh Sohna powered his way through to beat Cassar with a grounder.

Birżebbuġa were unable to lift their game after the break with Pieta maintaining the initiative.

A Christian Grech shot was cleared off the line by Kevin Borg and a Kooh Sohna header beat Cassar but not the crossbar.

Cassar did well to keep out Terence Agius’s effort and the latter was unlucky a few minutes later when his goalbound effort was stopped on the line by a defender.

Pieta lifted their foot off the pedal in the late stages of the match and the best opportunity to score fell to the southenders but substitute Da Silva hit badly from a favourable position.

Pieta: D. Cassar, C. Attard, O. Anonam, C. Grech, J. Pisani, M. Borg, Q. Refalo, C. Frendo (L. Mutasi), T. Agius (K. Micallef), R. Kooh Sohna (K. Cesare), R. Costa Varella.

Birżebbuġa: C. Cassar, A. Shennowo, P. Grima, P. Camilleri, D. Baldacchino, D. Grech (J.C. Da Silva), K. Borg, G. Caruana (C. Calleja), G. Goodlip, M. Deanov, R. Celeste (R. Zammit).

Referee: Sandro Spiteri.

Man of the match: Raphael Kooh Sohna (Pieta Hotspurs).

Lija Athletic 3
Msida St Joseph 1

Lija continued with their quest for promotion after beating troubled Msida 3-1. Without setting any houses on fire, Brian Spiteri’s men did just enough to claim the points with the Saints also contributing to their downfall by gifting their opponents two of the goals – a penalty and a late own goal.

Lija’s Kiril Aleksandrov drove the ball wide from a good position early on and the same player saw his volley stopped by keeper John Agius a few minutes later.

Msida had their first shot on goal on 26 minutes. Ariel Laudisi was first on a loose ball inside the Lija box but his grounder was saved by Kris Calleja.

Lija opened the score on 33 minutes thanks to Abdullahi Ige who headed home from a corner.

Msida started the second half on attack and Ayrton Azzopardi drew the teams level when he slotted home after Calleja had half-parried a Laudisi effort.

However, the Saints’ joy was short-lived as on 50 minutes Lydon Micallef impeded Ige in the box and a penalty was given. Aleksandrov made it 2-1 from the spot.

Msida went close to equalising from a Jose Luis Nogueira free-kick and Lija could have scored a third but Predrag Babic’s grounder hit the upright.

However, 13 minutes from time Lija made the points safe when Ian Schembri put the ball inside his own net while attempting to clear a Beppe Antignolo cross.

Lija: K. Calleja, T. Fleri Soler, M. Fleri Soler, C. Giordimaina, D. Vukovic, D. Scerri, E. Briffa, P. Babic, B. Antignolo (D. Mintoff), K. Aleksandrov, A. Ige.

Msida: J. Agius, L. Micallef, G. Ge-sualdi, F. Gusman (S. Vella), I. Schembri, M. Caruana (D. Attard), A. Azzopardi, A. Pellegrino, A. Laudisi, J.L. Nogueira (M. Tape), S. Magro.

Referee: Stefan Pace.

Man of the match: Abdullahi Ige (Lija Athletic).

St Andrew’s 0
Gudja United 1

St Andrew’s conceded a third consecutive defeat to fall further behind in the race for the two promotion slots. The match finished on a sour note when three players were sent off, two for the Saints and one of Gudja.

St Andrew’s almost broke the deadlock early on but Trayo Grozev’s header was cleared off the line by George Chircop and Emiliano Lattes hit badly from a good position.

The Saints then won a penalty when Steve Agius was deemed to have handled the ball in his own area. Grozev, however, saw his spot-kick coming off the upright.

The pace slowed down con-siderably as the second half got underway even though the Saints remained the better team and saw more of the ball but Gudja were also dangerous from quick breaks.

And on 80 minutes it was their turn to be awarded a penalty when Michael Johnson floored Matthew Groves in the box. Johnson was red carded and Mauro Brincat made no mistake from the spot-kick.

Three minutes from time, Gudja should have sealed the issue when Ryan Dalli was put through by Anthony Ewurum but he shot weakly with only keeper Matthew Towns to beat.

In added time, Nicki Vella Pet-roni, of St Andrew’s, was sent off for dissent with Brincat following suit just before the final whistle.

St Andrew’s: M. Towns, N. Chetcuti, M. Johnson, B. Said, D. Gera, J. Briscoe White, A. Amato, N. Vella Petroni, M. Grima (K. Nwoko), E. Lattes, T. Grozev.

Gudja: M. Xerxen, R. Buhagiar, S. Agius, C. Fenech, F. Scozzese, M. Brincat, G. Chircop, M. Groves, G. Cauchi, R. Dalli, A. Ewurum.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Man of the match: Matthew Groves (Gudja United).

Ħamrun Spartans 1
St George’s 2

Ħamrun suffered another nosedive in their bid to escape the drop when they failed to win at least a point from their match against St George’s who had striker Bernardo Mariano in fine form yesterday.

Although the Spartans showed signs of a comeback early on in the second half, they never gave the impression that they could really save the match.

Mariano scored twice inside the first 20 minutes to pave the way for the Saints’ victory.

The Spartans seemed lost but succeeded in pulling one back on 55 minutes when Antonio Pigna-taro slotted the ball home.

Ħamrun increased the pressure but St George’s never lost control and it was only in stoppage time that they almost conceded the equaliser when Pignataro’s chip fell a few inches away from goal.

Ħamrun: A. Cassar, G. Formosa (J. Grech), M. Busuttil, D. Nazzam, L. Grech, R. Mangion (M. Busuttil), M. Cornago (R. Refalo), A. Micallef, R. Spiteri, A. Pignataro, J. Felice.

St George’s: R. Marmara, E. Sevasta, A. Ellul, A. Bonello, M. Razak, J. Bernardo Mariano, D. Sammut, J. Emeka, J. Gerada (R. Brignone), K. Tanti, C. Grech.

Referee: Karl Frendo Cumbo.

Man of the match: Bernardo Mariano (St George’s).

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Pietà	10	7	3	0	22	8	24
Żebbuġ	11	7	2	2	26	16	23
Lija Athletic	10	6	1	3	20	11	19
Melita	10	5	2	3	17	11	17
St George’s	10	4	3	3	16	16	15
Gżira United	10	3	5	2	10	9	14
Gudja United	10	4	2	4	15	19	14
Birżebbuġa	11	4	2	5	16	21	14
St Andrew’s	10	3	3	4	17	19	12
Żejtun Cor.	10	3	1	6	14	24	10
Żurrieq	10	2	2	6	13	19	8
Msida SJ	10	1	2	7	11	19	5
Ħamrun (-8)	10	1	4	5	14	19	-1