Gżira United had to be at their best to overcome the stiff challenge of neighbouring rivals Sliema Wanderers at the Tony Bezzina Stadium on Sunday.

It was a clinical performance from the Maroons who after taking an early lead managed to control Sliema’s fightback and made the most of the chances that came their way to set up a Last 16 tie against Qala Saints.

Gżira United took the ground running and inside the first six minutes, they were already ahead.

Marcelo Dias sped clear on the right and sent a low cross towards Jefferson who anticipated his marker and fired the ball past Rashed Al Tumi.

The Wanderers tried to recover from this setback and on 14 minutes, Mohammed Awad embarked on a surging run that took him past two players before hitting a rasping drive that was somehow kept out by Darijan Zarkov.

Sliema threatened again on 26 minutes when Jean Carlos Goncalves combined well with Geoffrey Acheampong but the Sliema midfielder was denied by Zarkov.

Read the full match report on sportsdesk.com.mt...