Ruthless Gżira United punish Sirens to move up to third

SIRENS                                      0

GŻIRA UNITED               3

Riascos 10, 12; Bohrer 65

SIRENS

M. Grech-4, G. Camilleri-5, M. Pereira Muniz-6 (72 D. Promise), R. Tachikawa-6, Wellington-5, S. Cipriott-5 (84 S. Arab), A. Borg-5, V. Bento-5 (46 K. Sano), G. Ventura-5, D. Jackson-5, S. Sessegnon-5 (84 M. Maggi).

GŻIRA UNITED

D. Zarkov-6, G. Bohrer-7, L. Tabone-6, N. Muscat-6.5 (79 A. Borg), S. Pisani-6.5 (70 B. Borg), M. Dias-6 (79 R. Correa), L. Riascos-7 (46 Z. Scerri-6), T. Kolega-6, M. Cosic-6, M. Maia-7 (70 J. Mendoza), Jefferson-6.5.

Referee Andrea Sciriha.

Yellow cards Riascos, Jackson, Bohrer.

BOV Player of the match Luis Riascos (Gżira United).

Two goals from Luis Riascos put Gżira United on their way to a comfortable victory over Sirens and keep up the pressure on the Premier League pacesetters.

There was never any doubt on who would take maximum spoils yesterday, as the Maroons were ruthless upfront from the opening stages as they pounced on two defensive mistakes from the Sirens defence with Riascos giving them a double advantage before Gabriel Bohrer sealed the points with a spectacular third.

For Gżira this was their third successive win that lifts them to third place in the standings on 14 points, level with Gudja United and four adrift of pacesetters Ħamrun Spartans.

Gżira took the ground running and should have been ahead after only five minutes of play.

Maxuell Maia stormed inside the area from the right and squared the ball into the path of Jefferson but the Brazilian striker incredibly fired over in front of a gaping goal.

But the Maroons were not to be denied as they took the lead on ten minutes courtesy of some poor defending from the Sirens defence.

From a corner action, Sirens goalkeeper Matthew Grech failed to intercept Steve Pisani’s delivery from a corner and in came Luis Riascos to fire the ball into the net.

The Colombian midfielder was at it again two minutes later when this time he was played through by Maxuell Maia and he kept his composure to steer the ball past Grech.

Buoyed by that two-goal lead, it was inevitable that the Maroons would opt to administer their advantage and try to hit their opponents with quick forays on their front duo Maxuell Maia and Jefferson.

Sirens, on the other hand, stepped up their efforts to try and get back into the match but they looked short of ideas when charging forward.

Seven minutes from the break, Sirens finally threatened when Rei Tachikawa tried a spectacular overhead kick but Gżira goalkeeper Darijan Zarkov was alert to block.

After the break, Sirens stepped up a gear and on 50 minutes Degran Jackson moved past his marker but fired over with on Zarkov to beat.

But it was Gżira who put seal to their win on 65 minutes. They were awarded a central free-kick and Gabriel Bohrer let fly a stinging drive that gave no chance to Grech.

Kei Sano came close for Sirens on 73 minutes but was denied by Zarkov as Gżira United coasted to victory.