ŻEBBUĠ RANGERS 1
MQABBA 0
Żebbuġ Rangers coach Clive Mizzi lamented his team’s profligacy in front of goal after watching his team need a last-gasp Saturday Nanapere goal to overcome Mqabba at the Centenary Stadium on Sunday.
Both teams enjoyed spells of possession but in the end it was Żebbuġ who managed to take all spoils despite missing several scoring opportunities.
Żebbuġ coach Clive Mizzi identified his team’s scoring problems as one of his team’s main weaknesses.
“One of our major difficulties is that we create a lot of opportunities but unfortunately, we fail to finish them off. This is what happened today as well and even though we scored, the action was not one which we thought would lead to a goal,” Mizzi admitted.
“The (league) table is not lying. We’ve got the best defence but one of the worst attack statistics at present, if not the worst in the First Division. We need to work on these things with the players that we have, and maybe in January we can fix things even more.”
Following the win over Mqabba, the Rangers have now moved up to seventh in the standings on 14 points, three adrift of the promotion zone. Next up Żebbuġ is a clash against league leaders Lija Athletic and Mizzi is expecting a tough challenge.
“After the results they have achieved, they will surely be determined to get the points,” he said, “We’re going to have some missing players, but we will prepare and go for it just like we do for every other game.”
On the other end, Mqabba mentor George Vella had words of praise for his opponents.
“In reality, the position Żebbuġ are in does not reflect their team,” Vella remarked.
“As yet, they’ve played against teams who are higher in the table and even though they have 14 points, they’ve played against very strong teams and I knew it was going to be difficult against them.”
Vella’s side had custodian Fredrick Tabone to thank for another impressive performance on the day even though they created scoring opportunities.
“In the first half, we played against the wind – an important factor more than the rain – but we played and defended well. In the second half, Żebbuġ were more dominant but we had our own chances as well,” Vella explained.
“I believe that although we lost, the fact that we stayed in the game until the end is something positive, especially against a side which I think can make it to the top five.
“The worst thing you can do in moments like these is to panic. We will need to work together because despite the loss today, we had a good reaction and a good performance.”
Both sides struggled in the first half as they braved the elements, which in turn, caused chances to be a few and far between.
Both sets of defences proved compact but clumsy in their clearances which meant that the forwards had little to no help to forge ahead.
The Greens began to impose themselves in the second half and created several opportunities, with the best being a Muda Fagbeja header which went ridiculously across the face of goal following a Nanapere cross.
Naxxar finally found the breakthrough on 77 minutes when Nanapere’s cross-shot flew into the net.
Mqabba tried to respond but could not manage to equalise in the little time that remained as Żebbuġ stood firm to protect their slim advantage.
ŻEBBUĠ: M. Grech, D. Fava, G. Gesualdi, R. Vella, C. Brincat, R. Zammit, W. Borg (79 J. Farrugia), S. Buhagiar, N. Ojuola, S. Nanapere, M. Fagbeja (92 S. Darmanin).
MQABBA: F. Tabone, M. Caruana, L. Farrugia (85 C. Cutajar), J. Micallef, N. Micallef, K. Xuereb, K. Magro, D. Micallef, A. Makela (87 A. Ferreira), I. Margarit (Y. Omuro), P. Chimezie.
Referee: Slawomir Olucha
Best Player: Saturday Nanapere (Żebbuġ).
SUMMARIES
ST ANDREWS 4
PEMBROKE ATHLETA 0
ST ANDREWS: N. Grima, I. Azzopardi, M. D’Alessandro, M. Bartolo, W. Camilleri, J. Farrugia, D. Jackson, N. Bradshaw (84 M. Vella Vidal), L. Borg (70 M. Veselji), A. Borg Olivier (82 D. Curmi), K. Reid.
PEMBROKE: P. Schranz, G. Azzopardi (75 C. Camilleri), N. Grech, A. Vujovic, T. Fenech, N. Frendo, M. Zarb, P. Santos, Y. Tonna, JP Mifsud Triganza, D. Todorovski (52 D. Isakovic).
Referee: Slobodan Petrovic
Scorers: Borg Olivier (SA) 30, 74; Farrugia (SA) 68 pen; Jackson (SA) 76.
QORMI 1
QRENDI 2
QORMI: J. Azzopardi, A. Abela, F. Gusman, A. Cassar, J. Lokando, N. Ghio, F. Gnindokponou (62 R. Santos Silva), B. Grech, M. Borg, T. Gusman (72 C. Farrugia), C. Matombo (81 L. Farrugia).
QRENDI: D. Zarb, S. Schembri, B. Muscat, A. Agius, S. Radovanovic (65 J. Silveira), D. Azzopardi, L. Martinelli (46 E. Vella), L. Schembri, D. Sammut (73 A. Curmi), D. Santos da Hora, A. Nilsson.
Referee: Malcolm Spiteri
Scorers: Gnindokponou (QO) 6; Nilsson (QR) 78 pen; Santos da Hora (QR) 90.
NAXXAR LIONS 3
LIJA ATHLETIC 2
NAXXAR: O. Borg, R. Cassar, B. Essel, M. Fenech, J. Sciberras, M. Mifsud, J. Debono (86 A. Azzopardi), S. Meilak, D. Falzon (93 R. Mercieca), E. Farias (71 J. Ellul), G. Carrara.
LIJA: L. Bonnici, C. Cassar, L. Muscat, C. Giordimaina, A. White, D. Scerri, K. Seakanyeng, C. Gauci, G. Borg (75 A. Galea), E. Beu, H. Wood (63 A. Azzopardi).
Referee: Daniel Portelli.
Scorers: Beu (L) 13, 78; Essel (N) 34; Carrara (N) 45 pen.; Farias (N) 61.
ŻEJTUN CORINTHIANS 2
ST GEORGE’S 0
ŻEJTUN: C. Cassar, L. Cassar Jackson, K. Farrugia, J. Busuttil, A. Mizzi, D. Agius, N. Tabone, M. Pereira, J. Suda, J. Ogunuppe, R. Nascimento.
ST. GEORGE’S: J. Azzopardi, L. Cutajar, A. Marshall, A. Hili, R. Snieder Villada, C. Cassar, G. D’Amato, J. Dalli, L. Bonett, S. Perdomo, D. Caruana.
Referee: Domenico De Girolamo.
Scorers: Nascimento (Ż) 38 pen., 49.
PIETÀ HOTSPURS 2
FGURA UNITED 1
PIETÀ: M. Chetcuti, T. Bartolo, Q. Bregman, S. Mizzi, D. Vukovic, C. Gauci, N. Pace Cocks, N. Pisani, J. Ghio, C. Bouvet (87 S. Pisani), C. Ze Lucas.
FGURA: L. Moore, P. Chircop, J. Vella, J. Barbara, J. Stensen, O. Mifsud (80 S. Hili), S. Borg, A. Toncheff, C. Valero (91 M. Vella), G. Martin, G. Galea (62 D. Cartella).
Referee: Daniel Casha.
Scorers: Ze Lucas (P) 79 pen.; Scicluna (P) 80; Toncheff (F) 85 pen.
SWIEQI UNITED 1
VITTORIOSA STARS 2
SWIEQI: E. Gatt, J. Azzopardi, M. Ivanovic, K. Sultana, K. Muscat, A. Schembri Wismayer, D. Borg, G. Bugeja (75 M. Farrugia), R. Taliana, I. Salis (75 M. Albuquerque), F. Fernandes (90 T. Ayorinde).
VITTORIOSA: M. Moyano, C. Spiteri, J. Briffa, O. Sidibe, K. Vella, G. Sultana, D. Tabone, M. Lamlun (77 A. Ellul), L. Casha (46 J. Attard), O. Guerrero (101 P. Papadakis), K. Abela.
Referee: Johannes Schipke.
Scorers: Sidibe (V) 33, 90; Salis (S)
40.