Marsaxlokk put Valletta in more relegation trouble as Santa Lucia, Gżira United win

VALLETTA 0

MARSAXLOKK 2

Messias 9, Portelli 22

VALLETTA

A. Guarnone, J. Bolanos, O. Barrientos, S. Dimech (61 J. Azzopardi), G. Vieira (61 A. Ferraris), D. Paiber, M. Jezdimirovic (46 A. Silas), V. Filho, N. Micallef, Jhonnattann (79 D. Garba), D. Cardoso.

MARSAXLOKK

M. Drobnajk, Weder, N. Portelli, Y. Messias (86 S. Boakye) , D. Bonniċi, J. Walker, N. Raden, R. Scicluna, J. Junior (78 J. Ghio), A. Obonogwu (70 S. Akinbule), N. Muscat (86 D. Pires).

Referee: Fyodor Zammit.

Yellow cards: Muscat, Paiber, Walker, Filho.

Marsaxlokk delivered a devastating blow to Valletta’s survival hopes when the southerners secured a comfortable 2-0 win that boosted their aspirations to earn a European berth this season.

Goals from Yuri Messias and Nevin Portelli handed the points to Marsaxlokk who regained fourth spot in the standings. On the other, hand, Valletta suffered their third defeat in a row to slip to third from bottom on 18 points.

Fighting for their Premier league survival, Valletta made a combative start to the match. But the Lilywhites’ positive forward play was soon dampened by their own frailties.

Portelli delivered a deep cross for a completely unmarked Messias to head past Alessandro Guarnone.

Marsaxlokk responded to Valletta’s obvious panic by pouring forward and double their lead after 22 minutes when Portelli fired the ball in from just outside the box.

Valletta had not won a match this season after failing behind and again failed to convert their chances.

On 39 minutes, Shaun Dimech hit the foot of the post with a diagonal shot. 

In the second half, Valletta seemed to lack a sense of urgency and their attacks spluttered out to the growing frustrations of their fans. 

GUDJA UNITED           0

SANTA LUCIA              4

Mrdja 7

Piazza 16

Letherby 44

Gomes 59

GUDJA UNITED

J. Pisani, M. Muchardi, L. Gatt, J. Quintero, R. Fernandes, R. Nanitelamio, S. Owus, Z. Grech, A. Friggieri (65 S. Attard), M. Esposito, G. Zammit (65 M. Conti).

SANTA LUCIA

F. Celio, M. Ellul, D. Letherby (62 D. Letherby), S. Pisani, A. Bradshaw (78 A. Ogouvide), J. Pisani, A. Mrdja (62 J. Valletta), S. Moracci (72 L. Sena), A. Piazza (62 T. Nagamatsu), S. Xerri, Evandro.

Referee Daniel Casha.

Yellow card Gatt.

Santa Lucia moved out of the relegation zone with a routine 4-0 win over Gudja United

The Saints took the ground running and managed to open a two-goal lead inside the first 16 minutes of play.

The clock marked seven minutes of play when Alessio Piazza raced clear on the left and sent a fine cross into the path of Alexa Mrdja who headed home.

Gudja were rattled and Sta Lucia doubled their lead on 16 minutes when Santiago Moracci raced clear and squared the ball into the path of Piazza who fired the ball into the net.

The match was as good as over on the stroke of half-time when the Gudja defence failed to clear Moracci’s cross and Daniel Letherby was on hand to fire home.

Santa Lucia added a fourth goal on the stroke of the hour mark, when from a free-kick action, Steve Pisani fed Evandro who fired the ball into the net.

Gżira United continued to distance themselves from the relegation zone when they eased past Sirens at the Centenary Stadium.

The Maroons saw more of the ball in the first half and took the lead on 23 minutes when Zachary Scerri fired home from close in.

The Gżira United skipper added a second from the penalty spot 20 minutes into the second half.

The Maroons added a third goal in the first minute of stoppage time when Thiago Espindola’s shot came off the post and Kyle Spence was on hand to fire home.

There was more time for Tomislav Knezevic to seal the points with a fourth just before the final whistle.

SIRENS            0

GŻIRA UNITED            4

SIRENS

An. Cassar, D. Borrero, P. Owusu (77 E.A Ceesay) , H. Gomda, N. Pulis (77 D. Agius), H. Panayiotou (82 O. Ilic), B. Asare (46 H.M. Akadom), S. Borg, K. Donsu, G. Carrara (82 F. Boateng) D. Jackson.

GŻIRA UNITED

D. Zarkov, C. Filho, T. Aldama (77 A. Borg), Z. Scerri, L. Macula (33 K. Spence), L. Riascos, F. Zuniga, Z. Cassar, B. Borg (89 B. Boadu), T. Espindola, J. Mendoza (89 T. Knezevic).

Referee Daniel Portelli.

Yellow cards: Scerri, Owusu, Pulis, Cassar, Thaylor.