STA LUCIA                                    0

SLIEMA WANDERERS 4

Mintoff 44; Zappa 59

Xuereb 79; Cisotti 90

Sliema Wanderers have put their season back on track with their second successive victory after defeating Sta Lucia 4-0.

The Blues have now leapfrogged Sta Lucia in 10th place with 11 points, one ahead of the Saints.

It was a much-improved performance by Alfonso Greco’s team as they were very organised, in particular at the back with Kurt Shaw having another distinguished performance.

At the other end, Sliema were very clinical with Juri Cisotti orchestrating behind the dynamic duo formed by Seydou Sow and Claudio Zappa.

Sta Lucia, on their part, managed to create some chances but their missed opportunities came back to haunt them as despite a positive start to the season, it seems that they are finding life difficult in the top-flight.

The opening stages of the game result in a cagey encounter with both defensive lines breaking down any offensive play.

The Blues created a proper clear-cut chance on 16 minutes when Sow found Alexander Satariano but the Malta U-19 player’s shot was deflectedto a corner by Ryan Caruana. 

Sta Lucia came closer on the 23rd minute when Maycon found an unmarked Carlos Riascos inside the area but the latter hit wide.

On the 34th minute, Sta Lucia had an effort on goal through Kevin Ante but his effort was smothered by Sliema’s custodian Entonio Elezaj.

Ante threatened again five minutes from time but his long-range effort went wide before sending shivers down Sliema’s spine a couple of minutes later when he connected to a Riascos cross just to see his effort struck the crossbar.

Nonetheless it was Sliema who forged ahead when John Mintoff attempted an effort from a tight angle which Sta Lucia goalkeeper Caruana seemed to have under control before the ball slipped from his hands and rolled into the net.

Sta Lucia came out the brightest after the break as they recorded their first chance inside the opening two minutes when Farid Zuniga made his way into the box only to fire the ball over.

However, it was Sliema who found the net again when Zappa received the ball inside the eighteen-yard area before blasting the ball past Caruana.

On the hour mark, Sow could have wrapped up the win for Sliema but Caruana came to his team’s rescue as he denied the Blues forward.

In the closing stages of the game, Sliema added two more goals.

 First, Peter Xuereb capitalised on a corner-kick with a shot from point-blank range that flew into the net.

Then it was Cisotti who headed home from another set-piece to seal Sliema’s victory.