Naxxar Lions upset Hibernians to boost hopes of avoiding the drop

HIBERNIANS             0

NAXXAR LIONS               1         

Cassar 34 pen

HIBERNIANS

H. Sacco, K. Shaw, K. Fraga, M. Carvalho, J. Degabriele (78 S. Hamanojda), B. Kristensen, D. Xuereb (78 S. Sorokin), A. Bruno (63 F. Falcone), A. Martinis (78 M. Ellul), P. Silva, R. Bruno.

NAXXAR LIONS

M. Debono, N. Micallef, T. Yamaguchi (63 I. Yasukaze), N. Pace Cocks, E. Bolanos, R. Cassar, H. Santos (86 B. Sane), H. Correia, Maicon (90 J. Farrugia), F. Barbosa, J. Cardoso.

Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann.

Yellow cards: Micallef, Maicon.

Naxxar Lions bounced back from last week’s defeat to Żabbar St. Patrick as they earned three precious points thanks to a 1-0 win over Hibernians.

The win lifts the Lions two points ahead of Balzan and three ahead of Melita although the latter two have a game in hand as they will face each other on Sunday,

Hibernians may have had several scoring opportunities throughout the 90 minutes but Naxxar did an excellent job in keeping them at bay.

Branko Nisevic opted for three changes from the team which defeated Melita as Hugo Sacco was back in goal while Lucas Villela and Federico Falcone were replaced by Jurgen Degabriele and Miullen Carvalho.

For Naxxar, Ryan Gilmour Cassar and Takuma Yamaguchi as Bacary Sane and Edson Farias were among the substitutes.

Naxxar threatened with a Takuma Yamaguchi effort from the edge of the area, when served by Maicon, which was however neutralised by goalkeeper Hugo Sacco.

However, on 12 minutes, Helder Correia risked committing an own goal in an attempt to anticipate Khevin Fraga with a shot from outside the area which ended just wide.

Five minutes later, goalkeeper Matthias Debono abandoned his goal to halt a fine run by Mueller Carvalho with Apostolos Martinis taking the loose ball and trying his luck with what seemed to be a perfect lob but Fernando Barbosa came to the rescue clearing the ball off the line.

Dexter Xuereb then hit just wide from the edge of the area after a good move between Martinis and Kristensen.

Maicon had a cross-shot from the right which was parried by Sacco on 27 minutes.

Seven minutes later, Naxxar managed to take the lead.

Martinis handled the ball following a cross by Maicon. Referee Trustin Farrugia Cann ordered a penalty and Ryan Gilmour Cassar converted from the spot.

In stoppage time, Jurgen Degabriele took advantage of a short clearance but hit high from inside the area.

Four minutes into the second half, Pedro Henrique headed just wide off a Xuereb corner as the Paolities started to push harder for the equaliser.

Fraga had a freekick from just outside the area parried by Debono on 55 minutes.

Three minutes later, a good move between Xuereb and Carvalho ended with Degabriele hitting wide from inside the area.

Degabriele was then unlucky to see his fine shot from the edge of the area just missing the target.

However, in a swift counterbreak for Naxxar, Edward Bolanos concluded a good run on the left flank with a diagonal shot that scraped past the post on 71 minutes.

Debono came to Naxxar’s rescue when turning into a corner a Degabriele effort.

From the resulting corner, Pedro Henrique headed high.

At the other end, Nikolai Micallef sent Hugo Santos through but the latter hit high on 75 minutes. Seven minutes from time, Maicon tried his luck with a long-distance effort but Sacco saved without particular difficulty.