Naxxar Lions need extra-time to see off Żurrieq and reach FA Trophy semi-finals

Naxxar Lions needed extra-time to fend off the challenge of Żurrieq 2-1 and reach the semi-finals of the Meridianbet FA Trophy on Wednesday night.

It was a hard-fought victory for the Lions, who will surely feel they had enough opportunities to seal qualification inside normal time. But Żurrieq showed great spirit to level the match and force extra-time.

Here, Naxxar kept pushing and were rewarded with the winning goal to set up a semi-final showdown against Gżira United.

The Lions were soon up and running, as after seven minutes they managed to take the lead.

Vinicius sped clear and hit a thumping drive that gave no chance to Żurrieq goalkeeper Jurgen Borg.

Naxxar kept pushing and on 28 minutes Vitinho saw his firm drive brilliantly pushed away by Borg.

Six minutes into the second half, Gabriel Costa came close to doubling their lead but his header flew over.

Instead, it was Żurrieq who pulled level on 74 minutes when the Naxxar defence failed to deal with a cross, the ball fell to Wyatt Jon Harding, who saw his deflected shot finish into the back of the net.

Naxxar could have won it four minutes from time when Daniel Letherby hit a firm shot from outside the area, but Borg was alert to push to a corner as the match drifted into extra-time.

Naxxar continued to create better chances in extra-time and were unlucky on 94 minutes when Joao Pedro was unlucky to see his header come off the bar.

But the Lions were not to be denied as on 114 minutes Vinicius Ferreira was upended inside the area and Vitinho made no mistake to seal his team’s passage to the next round.