PIETA` 0
LIJA 3
Lija Athletic coach Joseph Galea hailed his team’s unity as they outclassed Pieta` Hotspurs 3-0 on Friday at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. It was a match which showed the Reds’ dominance as they fight for a seat at the Premier League table once again. Lija’s free-scoring forward Erjon Beu continued his run getting another two goals with Leon Muscat adding a third in what was a well-deserved win for the visitors.
Galea told the Times of Malta that his main goal was to keep the squad as tight-knit as possible after the club’s third win in as many matches. “We need to stay humble - The league is very balanced and you can never say you’ve got an easy match so I want us to stay focused.”
“The most important thing for me is that the group (of players) remains united and I’ve made it very clear with them too, both if the results remain positive and especially if things go south because we need to show our strength to keep this group together.
“Today I think we were a bit superior over Pieta` but I admit there were moments when they pressed us well, especially after the 1-0.
“But I think it was a win we deserved; the team is playing great football. We’ve started on the right foot and we’ll see where our mentality takes us.”
The Lija coach explained how his plan is to try and challenge for a place at the top of Division One. “We are taking it game by game. If the opportunity (for promotion) arises, we’re obviously not going to miss it but we’re not looking at promotion just yet. We’re just trying to play the best football we can,” Galea said.
With Pieta’s average age for the starting 11 being just 23 years old, experience played an important part in Lija’s win. Reds captain and shot-stopper Luke Bonnici admitted it was a factor which they had taken into account.
Bonnici downplayed the idea that his perfectly timed efforts off the line were the only difference in his team’s win, shifting praise onto his team-mates. “Today’s game was tricky, especially because Pieta` have a lot of prominent, young players,” he remarked, “but our performance was good, we were compact and we stuck together throughout the game.”
“We got the early goal and we dominated for most of the time. In the second half, Pieta` challenged us much more but we stood firm. I think we’re on the right track.”
Lija took just seven minutes to forge ahead. Hermes Palomino rose for an overhead kick from a Carl Cassar cross and while it was mistimed, the ball fell to Beu who got past two defenders inside the penalty area and fired in his first goal of the night.
Pieta` tried to get back into the match but Bonnici was accurate in his saves to keep them out. On the other side of the pitch, the Blues relied on the safety of Sheldon Mizzi who, despite being the youngest player on the pitch, was solid in his tackles.
However, this was not enough to stop Lija from getting a second just before the half hour as confusion in the area following an Aiden Galea freekick, gave Muscat the golden opportunity to hit past Pieta` custodian Jacob Chircop.
Pieta` coach Brian Spiteri made two changes in the second half bringing on Sheldon Pisani for Jake Ghio and Jeremy Delmar instead of Nicholas Pisani. These changes made little difference to the what was about to happen as Travis Bartolo clipped Kabelo Seakanyeng in the penalty area 10 minutes before the end and Lija’s talisman Beu made no mistake in getting his second and Lija’s third.
As the Blues pushed towards a consolation goal, Lija kept their game steady by bringing on stalwart Daniel Scerri instead of Galea, Harry Wood for Palomino and Gabriel Borg in Antoine Borg’s place.
Pieta`: J. Chircop, T. Bartolo, N. Pace Cocks, J. Ghio (45 S. Pisani), D. Vukovic, N. Pisani (82 J. Delmar), S. Mizzi, L. Bregman (69 J. Bone), C. Lucas, J. Irimiya, A. Lubos.
Lija: L. Bonnici, C. Cassar, L. Muscat, E. Beu, A. Borg (88 G. Borg), M. Clinch, K. Seakanyeng, C. Giordimaina, A. Galea (68 D. Scerri), C. Gauci, M. Palomino (85 H. Wood).
Referee: Matthew Degabriele
Scorers: Beu (L) 7, 80 pen.; Muscat (L) 27.
Best Player: Bonnici (Lija Athletic)
Fgura 1
Qrendi 5
Fgura: B. Bartolo, P. Chirchop, D. Cartella, T. Grech (46 S. Hili), M. Gilbert, J. Vella, J. Cassar (76 G. Galea), A. Scicluna, S. Borg, C. Valero, T. Alejandro (67 M. Cilia).
Qrendi: R. Marmara, S. Schembri, A. Agius, D. Azzopardi, E. Vella, L. Martinelli (81 D. Micallef), A. Nilsson (76 D. Sammut), C. Camilleri (66 A. Curmi), J. Silveira, D. Da Hora.
Referee: Slobodan Petrovic
Scorers: Nilsson (Q)16 pen.; Da Hora 21, 73, 87; Silveira (Q) 55; Alejandro (F) 60.
Red Cards: Gilbert (F) 85.
Swieqi 0
St. Andrews 1
Swieqi: E. gatt, J. Azzopardi, S. Bugeja, K. Sultana (65 L. Grech), M. Ivanovic (80 B. De Souza), K. Muscat, M. Farrugia, A. Schembri Wismayer, R. Taliana (83 C. Pace), F. Nunes, I. Salis.
St. Andrews: N. Grima, I. Azzopardi, M. D’Alessandro, M. Bartolo, A. Martin (75 L. Borg), J. Farrugia, M. Potezica, J. Sixsmith, M. Veselji, K. Reid (81 W. Camilleri), A. Borg (75 D. Jackson).
Referee: Andrea Sciriha
Scorers: A. Borg (SA) 32.
Naxxar 0
Zebbug 0
Naxxar: O. Borg, A. Buhagiar (44 J. Sciberras), B. Essel, R. Cassar, A. Azzopardi, M. Fenech, M. Mifsud, S. Meilak, J. Debono, E. Farias, J. Ellul
Zebbug: M. Grech, C. Brincat, G. Gesualdi, R. Vella, R. Zammit, J. Farrugia, O. Olawale, M. Del Negro, R. Cutajar (78 O. Busuttil), F. Muda (60 A. Williams), S. Nanapere.
Referee: Emanuel Grech
Vittoriosa 1
Mqabba 1
Vittoriosa: Z. Valletta, K. Vella, I. Abela, A. Galea (82 C. Spiteri), J. Briffa, T. Abela Wilson (33 I. Curmi), D. Tabone, G. Sultana, P. Papadakis, R. Farias (27 L. Casha), O. Guerrero.
Mqabba: F. Tabone (24 D. Carabott), J. Micallef, N. Micallef, M. Caruana, D. Micallef, E. Zammit (73 L. Farrugia), Omuro Yuki, J. Spiteri, A. Ferreira, P. Chimezie, G. Micallef.
Referee: Stefan Pace
Scorers: Guerrero (V) 14; Abela (V) 67 o.g.
St. George's 1
Pembroke 3
St. George's: J. Azzzopardi, A. Marshall, L. Cutajar, J. Grech, A. Hili, G. Park (46 G. D’Amato), L. Bonett (74 A. Mallia), JP. Formosa (46 T. Hiruma), S. Perdomo, J. Dalli, D. Caruana.
Pembroke: P. Schranz, A. Vujovic, G. Azzopardi, T. Fenech, M. Brincat, D. Camilleri, N. Frendo, M. Zarb (69 Y. Tonna) P. Santos, A. Smeir, L. Mijic (65 D. Isakovic- 83 JP. Mifsud Triganza)
Referee: Ezekiel Barbara
Scorers: Zarb (P) 7; Mijic (P) 23; Caruana (S) 91; Mifsud Triganza (P) 95.
Zejtun 0
Qormi 3
Zejtun: C. Cassar, D. Sowatey, K. Farrugia (87 G. Azzopardi), J. Busuttil, A. Mizzi, N. Tabone, D. Agius, J. Suda (83 J. Iwueke), A. Carabott, J. Ogunuppe (65 M De Fex), S. Do Nascimento.
Qormi: J. Azzopardi, A. Abela, F. Gusman, N. Gauci, M. Borg, A. Cassar, F. Gnindokponou, B. Grech (83 S. Grech), R. Santos (85 I. Mizzi), I. Zammit (65 L. Farrugia), C. Matombo.
Referee: Daniel Portelli
Scorers: Farrugia (Q) 68, 93; Matombo (Q) 81 pen.
Red Card: Busuttil (Z) 80; Grech (Q) 91.