Tarxien Rainbows 3
Aboulezz 10, 52, Soly 60;
Pietà Hotspurs 1
Frances 72;
Tarxien had it all to play for yesterday at the Victor Tedesco stadium, as they knew three points against relegated Pietà Hotspurs would guarantee them Premier League survival.
The Rainbows put up a spirited second half performance and inspired by man-of-the-match Firas Aboulezz, scorer of two goals, they run out comfortable winners.
In fact the Rainbows finished the campaign on 23 points, two ahead of tenth-placed Mosta who will now have to face Division One side Gżira in a play-off on Friday.
Tarxien created their first chance after three minutes when Soly Mouhamed’s shot from outside the area drifted wide.
But the Rainbows struck in their next foray on 10 minutes.
Aboulezz sent the Rainbows fans into jubilation with a superb solo effort, dribbling past three Pietà defenders before hitting the ball past goalkeeper David Cassar.
Midway through the half, the Hotspurs almost drew level when Ricardo Costa broke free on the left and crossed the ball towards Rafael Rodrigues who just failed to make contact with the ball from routine distance.
On the half hour referee Andre Arciola had to stop play for a few minutes as assistant referee Peter Abela needed medical assistance.
Soly almost doubled Tarxien’s lead on the stroke of half-time but the towering striker’s shot hit the side netting.
Six minutes into the second half the Rainbows made it 2-0 when Aboulezz picked up a short clearance to curl the ball into the net.
Tarxien all but sealed the points on the hour when poor defending from Pietà enabled Soly to turn past his marker and drill the ball into the net.
Pietà looked dead and buried but they still managed to pull a goal back on 75 minutes when Claudio Frances punished the Rainbows for some hesitant defending to shoot past Tarxien goalkeeper Sean Mintoff.
The Rainbows now looked to sit deep and hit their opponents with swift counter attacks.
They enjoyed the majority of possession as they easily administered their lead till the end.
Tarxien Rainbows
S. Mintoff-7, S. Sadowski-7, T. Caruana-7, F. Aboulezz-9 (78 Nigel Vella I), E. Vallecillo-7.5, J. Pereira-7; A. Cini-7 (81 Nigel Vella II), M. Tabone-7.5, S. Mouhamed-8 (87 J. Yepes), O. Darlington-8, M. Acevedo-8.
Pietà Hotspurs
D. Cassar-6, C. Attard-6 (73 T. Bartolo), K. Micallef-6, L. Fortunato-6, J. Pisani-6, O. Anonam-6 (62 N. Pace Cocks), K. Cesare-6, R. Costa-6 (62 L. Micallef), R. Rodrigues-6.5, C. Frances-7, C. Ne-wuche-6.5.
Referee: Andre Arciola.
Yellow cards: Anonam, Nigel Vella II, Pace Cocks, K. Micallef.
BOV Player of the match: Firas Aboulezz (Tarxien Rainbows).