Gżira United go second after Żejtun Corinthians romp

ŻEJTUN CORINTHIANS 0

GŻIRA UNITED 4

Maxuell 10, Correa 41

Portelli 51, Davis 63

Żejtun Corinthians

C. Cassar-4, D. Albanese-5, A. Carabott-4, J. Suda-4 (59 E. Herrera-6), T. Bonfim-,5 L. Moreira-5, C. Grech-4, H. Marcelino-5, J. Barboza-6, W. Catanio-4 (59 M. Del Negro-6), N. Tabone-4 (77 G. Azzopardi).

Gżira United

A. Curmi-6, G. Bohrer-6, S. Borg-6 (73 K. Pulo), N. Muscat-6.5, D. Xuereb-6.5, M. Davis-8, N. Portelli-7 (73 C. Borg), M. Maia-6.5 (63 Jefferson-6), J. Mendoza-6 (63 S. Pisani-6), R. Correa-7, B. Atajic-6 (77 A. Cohen)

Referee: Slobodan Petrovic.

Yellow cards: Borg, Catanio, Moreira, Bonfim,

BOV player of the match: Martin Davis (Gżira United)

Gżira United turned the heat up in the Premier League title race with a dominant performance against Żejtun Corinthians.

The win saw the Maroons leapfrog Hibernians into second place and stay just one point behind Ħamrun Spartans and keep the title race wide open.

Gżira made it eight consecutive league wins and it soon became apparent the Żejtun team was there to be unlocked.

Indeed, it was another five-star performance from Darren Abdilla’s boys, outclassing their opponents.

Forwards Martin Davis and Maxwell Maia were constant menace for the Żejtun defence with the direct running and dribbling. Dexter Xuereb and Ricardo Correa were simply unstoppable on the flanks as Steve Borg and Gabriel Mentz rarely put a wrong foot in defence.

Żejtun generated little to inspire confidence and it only took a few minutes for the game to take the pattern many would have anticipated.

Żejtun hardly got into the Gżira half and appeared content with containment – a plan that just worked for the first 10 minutes.

In the 10th minute, a cross-shot from Martin Davis eluded the entire Żejtun defence with Maxuell Maia stretching to volley the ball home.

From that moment, they were in complete complete control and soon after, Christian Cassar had to react smartly to deny Davis.

A second goal after 41 minutes killed the game. Nikolai Muscat played a perfect ball for Ricardo Correa who let it bounce before rifling home with the aid of the post.

It certainly didn’t improve for the Corinthians after the break as the Maroons created chance after chance.

The third goal arrived on 51 minutes when Dexter Xuereb swung over a cross from the left, Neil Tabone cleared the ball into the path of Nevin Portelli, who blasted the rebound into the roof of the net.

To help reflect the dominance Gżira enjoyed, Davis droved forward, first he waltzed past Thiago Bonfim, skipped inside Lucas Moreira and evaded Tabone before hitting the ball past Cassar and seal a resounding win.