Birżebbuġa St Peter’s 0
Żejtun Corinthians 1
Albanian striker Oldi Majtara handed Żejtun Corinthians the perfect start to their Division One campaign as his second-half goal was enough to give his team the three points at the expense of Birżebbuġa St Peter’s.
Majtara was one of the three foreign players paraded by the promotion favourites Żejtun yesterday alongside Serbian 23-year old defender Zvesdan Vukovic and Albanian striker Blendi Gockay, who last season was on the books of St Patrick.
Both sides came out searching for an early goal but for all their possession they rarely tested their opposing goalkeepers.
The first real threat came on 11 minutes when Majtara’s shot from the edge of the area was pushed to a corner by Birżebbuġa goalkeeper Ivan Casha.
The Saints responded three minutes later, but Thiago dos Santos Mazzittelli should have done better when he shot straight into the hands of Żejtun goalkeeper Ranier Farrugia from a good position.
As the game progressed both sides were containing each other.
On 36 minutes Majtara profitted from some careless defending by the Birżebbuġa backline, surged into the area but his attempted lob finished high and wide.
On resumption it was all Żejtun but they were rarely dangerous. Their pressure finally paid off on 65 minutes when Majtara let fly a powerful drive that gave no chance to the diving Casha.
Majtara almost struck again on 72 minutes but his first-time shot finished just wide.
Birżebbuġa tried to salvage the match and on 82 minutes substitute Kevin Borg was put through by Vinicius Pereira Dos Santos but was thwarted by Farrugia.
Five minutes from time, substitute Kenneth Abela should have put the game to bed for Żejtun when he was released by Adrian Carabott but the striker shot poorly into the hands of Ivan Casha.
Birżebbuġa SP: I. Casha; R. Duca (R. Celeste), J. Farrugia, K. Spiteri, R. Mintoff, F. Peplow, G. Tanti (M. Mifsud), P. Camilleri (K. Borg), M. Camilleri, V. Pereira Dos Santos, T. Dos Santos Mazzitelli.
Żejtun: R. Farrugia; C. Magro, M. Borg (K. Vassallo), E. Azzopardi, A. Farrugia, Z. Vukovic, D. Zarb (B. Gockaj), K. Zahra, O. Majtara, W. Elzaredi (K.Abela), A. Carabott.
Referee: Philip Farrugia.
Man of the match: Oldi Majtara (Żejtun Corinthians).