Msida Sj 2
St George’s 0
Two goals inside the opening 15 minutes propelled Msida St Joseph to a comfortable victory over St George’s that not only boosted their hopes of avoiding the drop but also condemned bottom-placed Ħamrun Spartans to relegation.
Third-from-bottom Msida have now moved on the 23-point mark, 13 clear of the Spartans who cannot leapfrog them with only four matches to go.
The game was easy prey for Msida who scored two early goals and from then on they easily administered their advantage.
Msida were off to a flier and took the lead after seven minutes when Robert Assio drilled the ball home after some good work from Banzio and Ayrton Azzopardi.
St George’s were rattled and they conceded again on 14 minutes when Shawn Magro slotted home from close in to put Msida in the driving seat.
Msida continued to show the better ideas with St George’s goalkeeper Thomas Galea effecting a fine save to keep out Assio’s firm shot on 25 minutes.
St George’s finally threatened on 35 minutes when an Abdul Razak half-volley was well saved by Jean-Matthias Vella.
The Cottonera side suffered a blow on the stroke of half-time when they lost striker Bernardo Mariano who pulled up injured.
On the restart, Msida remained the better side but for all their possession they rarely troubled the St George’s goal.
St George’s were reduced to ten men when goalkeeper Galea was shown a straight red card when he handled the ball outside the area when trying to stop the goalbound Ariel Laudisi.
With the Cottonera side having already effected their three substitutions, it was Sevasta who took his place in goal for the remaining minutes but the result remained unchanged.
Msida SJ: J.M. Vella, G. Gesualdi, M. Borda, F. Gusman (K. Saliba), L. Cassar, M. Caruana, D. Attard, A. Azzopardi, R. Assio, S. Magro (A. Laudisi), S. Banzio (D. Cachia).
St George’s: T. Galea, E. Amaira, J. Sevasta, J. Farrugia, A. Bonello, C. Grech (O. Giordano), J. Gerada, D. Sammut, M. Abdul Razak (R. Zerafa), K. Tanti, J. Bernardo Mariano (A. Ellul).
Referee: Stefan Pace.
Man of the match: Robert Assio (Msida SJ).
Gudja United 1
Żejtun Corinthians 0
Gudja United handed Żejtun Corinthians their eight consecutive defeat to push them on the brink of relegation.
The Corinthians remained second from bottom on 14 points, nine adrift of Msida, and with only three matches to be played they look destined to join Ħamrun Spartans in Division Two next season.
The match turned out to be a drab affair with scoring chances few and far between.
No doubt, the highlight of the match turned out to be Andrea Scozzese’s goal that handed Gudja their ninth victory of the season and lifted them to fourth place in the standings on 31 points, level with St George’s.
Żejtun enjoyed a bright start at the Tedesco Stadium.
Only three minutes elapsed when Gers Delia missed a golden opportunity to put his team ahead as he drove the ball just wide from just inside the area.
As the minutes passed, the match became evenly-balanced with both sides pushing forward in search of an opener.
On the half hour a Mauro Brincat free-kick was pushed away by Debattista, who started in goal in the absence of the suspended Aga.
Seven minutes from half-time, Żejtun orchestrated another good move as Delia broke free on the right before sending a teasing cross inside the area but there were no Żejtun forwards who could capitalise.
On the stroke of half-time a Cekulajevs free-kick was too weak with Xerxen saving without any trouble.
A minute later a close-range Abela header was again saved by the Gudja custodian.
Twelve minutes into the second half, Debattista effected a fine block to keep out Matthew Groves’s point-blank effort.
Gudja remained the better side and ten minutes later Dalli’s shot just missed the crossbar.
Gudja struck the winner four minutes from time when Scozzese hit a fierce drive that flew into the net.
Gudja: M. Xerxen, R. Buhagiar, C. Fenech, M. Brincat, C. Farrugia, G. Chircop, A. Ewurun (B. Saliba), G. Debattista (A.F. Scozzese), M. Groves, P.P. Sammut, R. Dalli
Żejtun: R. Debattista, A. Farrugia, S. Aquilina, C. Magro, K. Abela, J. Spiteri, D. Borg, G. Delia (M. Scicluna), A. Cekulajevs, A. Carabott (E. Vella), P. Mirceta.
Referee: Karl Frendo Cumbo.
Man of the match: Andrea Scozzese (Gudja).