Lija Athletic kept their promotion hopes alive with a 2-0 win over Birżebbuġa SP.Birzebbuġa SP 0
Lija Athletic 2
Lija Athletic registered their eighth win of the season to move to within two points of second-placed Pietà Hotspurs and four behind leaders Żebbuġ Rangers.
Lija practically dominated the game from start to finish and although Patrick Curmi’s Birżebbuġa did manage to create a few chances, the Lija rearguard never yielded an extra inch.
Lija, under the charge of Brian Spiteri, have now achieved a double over the south seasiders after having beaten them 3-0 in the first round.
On that occasion Kiril Aleksandrov was twice on the mark for Lija and yesterday he hit another brace to pave the way for a useful win.
The two sides took more minutes than expected to settle down as the heavy winds blowing at the Centenary Stadium made it difficult for the players to keep control of the ball.
However, in Lija’s first real move inside their opponents’ half, on 25 minutes, Ryan Zammit grounded Gianluca Calabretta in the box and a penalty was given.
Aleksandrov took the spot-kick and sent Christian Cassar the wrong way to give Lija the lead.
Lija were somewhat lucky to double their lead just past the half-hour mark.
Aleskandrov found space inside the Birżebbuġa box but lost possession when tackled by Martin Hrubsa. The latter’s clearance, however, rico-cheted against Aleksandrov and the ball finished in the back of the net.
At the other end, an effort by newcomer Giacomo Favero shot was neutralised by alert keeper Kris Calleja.
Lija continued to show the better qualities after the break and on 54 minutes Calabretta and Potezika combined perfectly before the former hit a scorching grounder that was stopped by Cassar.
A Calabretta solo effort finished with the Lija midfielder hitting his shot straight at the goalkeeper after having beaten the challenge of two defenders.
Aleksandrov could have scored his third of the afternoon late on but failed to beat Cassar from a good position inside the box.
Lija: K. Calleja, C. Giordemaina, M. Fleri Soler, D. Scerri, D. Vukovic, G. Calabretta, J.P. Scerri (B. Antignolo), M. Potezika, L. Micallef K. Aleksandrov, A. Adeshina Ige.
Birżebbuġa: C. Cassar; R. Zammit, P. Grima, D. Baldacchino, M. Hrubsa, F. Peplow (C. Calleja), G. Favero, K. Borg, G. Caruana, R. Celeste, P. Cataldi.
Referee: Matthew Degabriele.
Man of the match: Marko Potezika (Lija Athletic).