Naxxar Lions hold too much firepower for Swieqi United to reach quarter-finals

Naxxar Lions held too much firepower for Challenge League side Swieqi United to secure a 4-2 win and book their place into the quarter-finals of the Meridianbet FA Trophy.

Naxxar Lions dominated their tie from start to finish as the Premier League side as they never let their Challenge League opponents settle into the match.

Naxxar Lions took just five minutes to take the lead when Vinicius sent a low cross into the path of Louis Pahama who fired home from a central position.

That early breakthrough inevitably put Naxxar in ascendancy, but for all their possession, they failed to create more scoring chances.

Instead, it was Swieqi United who almost drew level on 25 minutes.

From a well-worked corner-kick, the ball finished into the path of Ayrton Attard and the former Hibs player saw his rising shot brilliantly pushed over by Matthias Debono.

Instead, it was Naxxar who doubled their lead when a poor pass was intercepted by Joao Victor who quickly found Pahama.

The French forward turned provider as he squared the ball into the path of Vinicius Ferreira, who fired the ball home.

On 34 minutes, Naxxar almost added a third goal when Joao Victor’s header was brilliantly pushed away by Swieqi goalkeeper Keirin Ellul Ruggier.

The match was as good as over three minutes into the second half when Joao Victor controlled the ball on the edge of the area and hit a thumping drive that gave no chance to Ellul Ruggier.

There were more woes for Swieqi as two minutes later Naxxar added a fourth goal.

In another swift transition, Pahama broke through and was upended inside the area by the onrushing Ellul Ruggier. From the spot, Joao Victor made no mistake to make it 4-0.

Swieqi came close to pulling a goal back late on when Paul Fenech’s shot was tipped onto the crossbar by Naxxar reserve goalkeeper Andriy Etienne Vella.

The Challenge League side did manage to pull a goal back on 86 minutes when Asenda was found in space and kept his poise to drill the ball home.

Naxxar seemed to have lost their concentration and Swieqi pulled a second goal back two minutes later.

Lucas Okeke did well to find Kojo Okle in acres of space inside the area to ram the ball home.

However, Naxxar somehow managed to recover their poise to see out the win.