Żabbar St Patrick brush aside Gżira United to boost Top Six hopes

ŻABBAR ST PATRICK 3

Keqi 1, Oliveira Souza 71

Joao Pedro 86

GŻIRA UNITED 0

ŻABBAR ST PATRICK

L. Camilleri, J. Micallef (68 J. de Sa Mendonca), B. Gambarte, S. Ilic, (46 D. Oliveira Souza), Z. Grech (80 D. Fava), A. Iervolino (46 J. Pisani), D. Tavares, V. de Paiva, K. Keqi (74 M. Barros Santos), D. Jovcic.

GŻIRA UNITED

G. Mangano. E. Pepe, A. Borg. F. Chouaib, L. Riascos, M. Shaquill, S. Denic , K. Zammit, B. Borg (76 M. De Filippis), N. Disic (65 J. Mendoza), T. Espindola.

Referee: Ishmael Barbara

Yellow card: Espindola.

Zabbar St Patrick kept alive their hopes of a top six finish when they beat Gzira United 3-0. The victory lifted Saints to seventh place on 14 points, level with Ħamrun Spartans.

Zabbar St Patrick only needed 26 seconds to score directly from kick off.

The Saints immediately sent the ball upfield and Kristian Keqi fired the ball into the corner behind Giulio Mangano.

The Maroons were forced to reshuffle their pack and chase the game as Żabbar had countless chances to take the game beyond their opponents’ reach.

Gzira battled superbly to stay in touch and on 16 minutes, Faysal Chouaib connected to a cross from the right, only to see the Żabbar goalkeeper Luca Camilleri, blocking his effort.

A battling run from Stefan Ilic ended with a powerful shot that Mangano turned around the post. Four minutes from half-time, Stefan Denic’s effort finished just wide of Mangano’s post.

Seven minutes after the break, Gżira were awarded a freekick in perfect Espindola’s territory on the left. The Brazilian extracted a delightful left-foot strike that bounced off the crossbar.

Żabbar moved the ball quickly upfront and substitute David Oliveira Souza, brought in for Ilic, outsprinted Enrico Pepe and hit a fierce strike that was smothered by Mangano.

Oliveira Souza would not be denied again on 71 minutes as the Brazilian striker received the ball in the box before hitting it behind Mangano for his third goal in five games, all as a second-half substitute.

Oliveira Souza was a threat for Żabbar upfront and five minutes from time, his header was blocked by Mangano as St Patrick continued to ooze with confidence.  

Żabbar made it 3-0 a minute later, Joao Pedro hit a powerful shot which was too hot to handle for Mangano.