Pietà Hotspurs 4
Mqabba 0
Pietà Hotspurs produced a brilliant performance to hammer high-fliers Mqabba, scoring four goals in the process to obtain their second successive win.
For Mqabba, this was a slap in the face in their quest for promotion as they missed the chance to join Qormi in second place.
Pietà were the more aggressive side in the early stages.
Mqabba defender Goran Adamovic almost committed an own goal from Clive Gauci’s cross.
On 19 minutes, Mqabba goalkeeper Jonathan Debono saved a close-range effort by Gabriel Mensah with Mqabba responding immediately with Arilson Mella da Silva’s free-kick just missing the target.
Pietà forged ahead in the 31st minute. Mensah received a good ball from Gauci before beating Debono with a low drive.
Mqabba tried to react but were too erratic in their play while Pietà were dangerous on the counter-attack.
Debono saved Gauci’s grounder from the edge of the area.
Pietà made it 2-0 in the 57th minute with a gem of a goal.
Mensah found Karl Micallef who crossed inside the box where James Scicluna hit home in front of goal.
In the 71st minute, Scicluna dribbled past two defenders and was brought down by goalkeeper Debono outside the area. Debono was dismissed and Mensah rattled the crossbar from the free-kick.
Pietà got their third six minutes from time when Gauci darted into the box, squared to Neil Pace Cocks who scored with a low drive.
Scicluna completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Pietà: M. Montfort, K. Micallef, C. Degabriele, S. Bartolo, D. Agius (J. Suda), M. Mifsud (N. Pace Cocks), C. Gauci, G. Mensah (Y. Dimitrov), J.M. Ruiz Perez, I. Jalo, J. Scicluna.
Mqabba: J. Debono, G. Gesualdi, M. Bonnici, A. Mello da Silva, K. Cutajar, C. Calleja (D. Azzopardi), M. Borg (J.R. Vella), P. Chimezie, Q. Bregman, G. Adamovic, L. Casha (C. Callus).
Referee: Etienne Mangion.
Best player: James Scicluna (Pietà).
Lija Athletic 4
Marsa 2
Lija Athletic returned to winning ways after defeating Marsa 4-2 in an action-packed encounter to end 2016 in third place.
Erjon Beu was once again the man of the match after hitting a hat-trick to move top of the Division One scorers’ list with 13 goals.
The first threat came from Lija. Following a melee inside the Marsa box, Ryan Mifsud was lucky not to commit an own goal.
Lija went in front in the 27th minute. Daniel Scerri’s accurate pass found Beu who scored with a grounder from an acute angle.
Marsa replied immediately with a Lucky Omeruo effort finishing over the crossbar. Moments later, Gilbert Martin’s header missed the target.
Lija doubled their lead in the 33rd minute. Beu was too fast for the Marsa rearguard but was foiled by Ryan Caruana who rushed out of goal to block the striker’s run.
However, the loose ball landed in the path of Jorge Garcia Vidal who scored with a fine lob.
Two minutes later, Marsa won a penalty when Garcia Vidal floored Omeruo in the box with the striker picking himself up to shoot home from 11 metres.
In the 38th minute, Marsa came close to drawing level when Kento Sakurai’s screamer was saved by Luke Bonnici. The game continued to be played at a fast pace with Lija getting a third three minutes before the break.
Ige Adeshina’s back-heeled pass found the unmarked Beu who controlled the ball before hitting home.
In the second half, chances were few and far between until Marsa were given a second penalty 12 minutes from the end.
Sakurai was brought down by McAllister Clinch and Omeruo again converted from the spot.
Deep into stoppage time, Lija put the game beyond Marsa’s reach when Beu drove home following a fast counter-attack.
Lija: L. Bonnici, C. Cassar (M. Vella), P. Borg, D. Scerri, E. Beu, L. J. Schembri (N. Formosa), A. Galea, J. Garcia Vidal (A. Bello-Osagie), M. Clinch, A. Ige, A. Borg.
Marsa: R. Caruana, L. Scorfna, R. Mifsud, T. Andrade Alvarez (B. Essel), G. Sultana, J. Farrugia, E. Vella, K. Sakurai, C. Cutajar (L. Micallef), G. Martin (A. Sicali), L. Omeruo.
Referee: Jude Amin Utulu.
Best player: Erjon Beu (Lija).