Wanderers hit five past ten-man Naxxar

Frank Temile scored twice for Sliema Wanderers as they defeated Naxxar Lions 5-1 at the Centenary Stadium on Saturday.

This was the first win for the Blues following a draw with Senglea last week. For Naxxar, this was the second defeat in as many matches, although with a bit more of luck they could have earned a draw considering that they hit the posts twice through Daren Falzon and Jurgen Debono.

Sliema had Croatian defender Nikola Gavric making his debut. His inclusion and that of Mark Scerri were the two changes from last week, replacing Goran Adamovic and Matias Muchardi. Naxxar also had two changes as Ryan Grech and Yuri de Jesus Messias were preferred to Joel Ellul and Francesco Serafino.

Photos: Copyright © Jonathan Bugeja

The Wanderers took the lead Frank Temile stole the ball off a hesitant Naxxar defender and hit past goalkeeper Omar Borg.

Four minutes later, Ryan Spiteri doubled the score as he headed home off a cross by John Mintoff from the right.

However five minutes from the end of the first half, Naxxar pulled one back thanks to a great freekick from the left by Yuri de Jesus Messias which stunned goalkeeper Sarao ending in the top left corner.

The Lions were reduced to ten men ten minutes in the second half after Ameth Lo was sent off for a late tackle from behind on Temile.

Frank Temile made it 3-1 on the 66th minute when he concluded a fine solo effort with a rising shot from the left which gave the Naxxar goalkeeper no chance.

The Wanderers added another goal seven minutes thanks to Alex Muscat who received an assist on the right and hit low past Omar Borg.

But it was not over yet as Peter Xuereb scored a fifth goal on the 90th minute, beating Borg from close range following a Ryan Spiteri corner.

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NAXXAR Omar Borg, Marco Botta, Yuri de Jesus Messias (86′ Go Nagaoka), Ryan Grech, Manolito Micallef, Daren Falzon, Duane Bonnici (58′ Tristan Nappa Licari), Ameth Lo, Ryan Gilmour Cassar, Angus Buhagiar, Mark Fenech (55′ Jurgen Debono).
Subs not used: Stefan Cutajar, Joel Ellul, Francesco Serafino, Gianluca Grima.
Coach: Dennis Fenech

SLIEMA Giuseppe Sarao, Stefano Bianciardi, John Mintoff (46′ Matias Muchardi), Gabriel Aquilina, Peter Xuereb, Frank Temile, Ricardo Calisto Correa (63′ Dylan Micallef), Mark Scerri (75′ Leandro Motta), Ryan Spiteri, Alex Muscat, Nikola Gavric.
Subs not used: Glenn Zammit, Gary Muscat, Michele Sansone, Jonathan Pearson.
Coach: John Buttigieg

Referee: Matthew De Gabriele
Assistant Referees: Thomas Debono, Sammy Attard
Fourth Official: Fyodor Zammit
Yellow Cards: Grech, Muscat, Scerri, Falzon, Aquilina
Red Cards: 55′ Ameth Lo
BOV Player of the Match: Frank Temile
Attendance: 569