GŻIRA UNITED              1

Bilbao Zarate 44

SLIEMA WANDERERS  1

Marzouk 27

Gżira United lost more ground on leaders Hibernians when had to come from behind to take a point against Sliema Wanderers.

The result left the Maroons three adrift of leaders Hibernians while Sliema joined Balzan in sixth place on 26 points.

Sliema created the first chance on 23 minutes when Ignacio Varela hit a firm volley that was pushed away by Andrew Hogg.

Gżira responded a minute later when from an Andrew Cohen corner kick, Fernando Barbosa pushed the ball just wide.

On 26 minutes, Sliema were awarded a penalty when Amehi was upended by Sasha Borg inside the area and Younes Marzouk blasted the ball past Haber.

Parity was restored on 44 minutes when Aquilina inexplicably let an Edison Bilbao Zarate shot pass through his hands and his legs to finish into the net.

The second half remained evenly poised with Sliema coming close on 54 minutes when Michele Sansone picked Matthias Muchardi whose low drive was blocked by Haber.

Gżira responded just shy of the hour when Haruna Garba outpaced Jonathan Pearson but the Nigerian was denied by Aquilina.

Roderick Briffa shoud have put Gżira ahead on 64 minutes when the veteran midfielder was well picked by Garba but he incredibly fired over in front of a gaping goal.

In the final stages, both teams were pushing forward in search of a late winner but each time their final pass left much to be desired.

Six minutes from time, Marzouk picked Temile inside the area but the Sliema forward completely miscued his shot with the ball finishing high and wide.

Gżira striker Haruna Garba was voted as the BOV Player of the match.