Vitinho the star as Naxxar Lions overcome Tarxien to move up to fourth

TARXIEN RAINBOWS 1         

NAXXAR LIONS  2        

Vitinho 48, 53 pen

Naxxar Lions scored twice early in the second half as they beat ten-man Tarxien Rainbows 2-1.

Winston Muscat’s side registered a second successive win to move fourth in the table, one point ahead of Valletta and Sliema Wanderers and two ahead of Birkirkara.

Tarxien, on the other hand, fall second from bottom following Żabbar’s win over Birkirkara.

For Naxxar, Theo Kruger and Louis Pahama were back in the starting line-up as they deputised for Gabriel Costa and Joao Moura.

Tarxien, on the other hand, had two changes from the team which defeated Mosta earlier this week as Claudio Murici and Patrick Schmidt made way for Marko Musulin and Angel Valverde.

Naxxar held the initiative right from the start withTarxien goalkeeper Andreas Cassar called to the rescue with a good save on Louis Pahama early in the game and then on a Theo Kruger free kick from outside the area on 19 minutes.

An Edson Farias effort from edge of the area was saved by Cassar five minutes from the end of the first half.

The Rainbows replied with an Andreas Vella angled shot from the left which was parried by Matthias Debono on 42 minutes.

Two minutes in the second half, Naxxar threatened once again with a shot from outside the area by Kruger from the edge of the area.

However one minute later, the Lions were not to be denied with the unmarked Vitinho slotting past goalkeeper Andrea Cassar following a cross from the left. 

To make matters worse for Tarxien, Miguel D’Alessandro floored Vinicius Baiano inside the area on 50 minutes.

Since D’Alessandro had already been cautioned early in the game, he was sent off by referee Daniel Portelli and from the penalty spot, Vitinho made no mistake to double the score.

D’Alessandro’s dismissal and the second goal for Naxxar killed any hopes Tarxien had of earning something from the game.

However, two minutes in added time, they managed to score a consolation goal.

Following a corner, Kwasi Donsu chested the ball down before unleashing a powerful shot which gave Matthias Debono no chance.