Naxxar Lions grind out point against Gżira United

GŻIRA UNITED              1

Mentz 51 pen.

NAXXAR LIONS             1

Farias 62

GŻIRA UNITED

J. Haber, G. Bohrer, E. Pepe, T. Aldama, Z. Scerri, L. Riascos, C. Ebisindor (67 M. Dias), A. Lecao, F. Zuniga (78 H. Fajsal), A. Borg (64 B. Borg), T. Espindola.

NAXXAR LIONS

M. Debono, N. Micallef, N. Pace Cocks (84 Gualberto), E. Farias (80 S. Luan), K. Haber (T. Yamaguchi), R. Cassar, G. Santos, Caxambu, F. Pereira, D. Jackson, Y. Ito.

Referee: Matthew De Gabriele.

Yellow cards Ebisindor, B. Borg.

Naxxar Lions picked up another significant point in their quest to move away from the bottom two places when they held Gżira United 1-1.

It was a battling performance from the Lions who found themselves a goal behind early in the second half.

But, the Lion showed a lot of resilience to get back into contention and after Edson Farias pulled them level with a fine strike, they came close on more than one occasion to snatch all three points but in the end had to settle for a point.

The point gained moves third-from-bottom Naxxar two clear of second from-bottom Balzan, who face Żabbar SP on Sunday.

Gżira dominated much of the first half.

Thaylor Aldama should have given Gżira United the lead after ten minutes.

From a long throw-in, Christian Ebisindor nodded the ball into the path of the winger who saw his close-range header saved by Naxxar goalkeeper Matthias Debono.

Gżira remained the better side and they came close again on 22 minutes when Naxxar goalkeeper Matthias Debono was alert to push away Thiago Espindola’s thumping drive.

On the half hour mark, Ebisindor missed a sitter as the Gżira forward incredibly fired over in front of a gaping goal after being set up by Aldama.

After the break, Gżira took the lead they deserved on 51 minutes when Naxxar skipper Ryan Cassar fouled Alex Alves inside the area and from the spot Gabriel Mentz blasted the ball home.

Suddenly, the Maroons went off boil and Naxxar crawled themselves back into the match.

Nikolai Micallef served Edson Farias who headed just over.

The Brazilian forward made amends on 62 minutes. Despite being some 40 metres out he let fly a stinging drive that completely surprised goalkeeper Justin Haber.

Spurred by this goal, Naxxar coach George Vella roped in Japanese forward Takumi Yamaguchi to bring fresh energy to his side.

Yamaguchi was soon in action when he fired a thumping drive that flashed just wide.

Naxxar came close to snatch the winner on 76 minutes when in a quick transition, Yamaguchi outsprinted his marker and chipped the ball over the onrushing Haber. But the Gżira goalkeeper recovered in time to palm the ball away.

At the other end, Aldama came close to put his team ahead when he was through on goal but was denied by the excellent Debono.

From the ensuing corner, Mentz’s header flashed just wide as the stalemate prevailed.