VITTORIOSA 1 NAXXAR LIONS 3

Naxxar Lions conjured up a whirlwind start, raced into a three-goal lead to beat Vittoriosa and retain their Premier League status.

But the Stars were authors of their own downfall as two defensive mistakes contributed to their quick return to Division One football

Within 10 minutes of referee Alan Mario Sant’s initial whistle, Vittoriosa were awarded a free-kick and Oscar Guerrero’s free-kick ended just over the bar after taking a deflection off Scerri’s back.

Vittoriosa were the brighter side in those early stages but four minutes later, they found themselves in arrears. Arab was having a torrid time trying to tame Gilmar and co., repeatedly restoring to fouls.

Shy the quarter of the hour mark, Naxxar were awarded a free-kick just outside the box after Arab committed another infringement on Victor Bellia. Gilmar’s effort hit the wall. From the rebound, Reano’s low drive took a crucial deflection off the Brazilian striker that completely wrong-footed Mario Muscat, the Vittoriosa goalkeeper.

The southseasiders were still coming to terms with the situation when Naxxar netted their second. In fact, nine minutes later, Filip Stojanovic’s long-range was a routine effort but Muscat allowed the ball to drop behind him into the net.

Spiteri’s troops suffered more misery two minutes from half-time. From Gilmar’s corner, Clive Spiteri inadvertently anticipated his own goalkeeper as Reano pounced on the short clearance to score with a rising shot.

Vittoriosa took to the pitch after the break looking determined to pull a goal back right away as Spiteri brought in Siraj Arab for Carl Sammut.

In a prolonged Vittoriosa raid after 51 minutes, first Azzopardi thwarted this opponents when saving Guerrero’s effort with his feet. The ball fell to Siraj Arab but his scrambled drive finished wide.

Shy the hour mark, the Stars were unlucky not to reduce the arrears. Marcelo Pereira did well to shield the ball from a posse of Naxxar defenders before turning to send the ball sailing over Azzopardi but his effort came off the woodwork.

Naxxar threatened to punish Vittoriosa’s flat-out approach with some devastating counter-attacks. In the 65th minute, Clive Brincat sent Gilmar crashing on the ground to end Naxxar’s venture up front. From the ensuing free-kick Falzon’s effort sailed through Vittoriosa’s human wall but the diving Muscat saved brilliantly.

Five minutes later, Pereira bridged the gap for the Stars. Guerrero delivered a fine cross from the right and the Brazilian striker controlled the ball with his chest before prodding home.

In the final minutes, Naxxar held their opponents at an arm’s length and at the final whistle, Naxxar’s joy was in sharp contrast with the downbeat mood of the Vittoriosa players, some of whom were moved to tears amid the realisation that they had lost their top-flight status.

Yet the match was marred by some ugly scenes at the end when Vittoriosa invaded Naxxar bench and a fight broke out.