Rainbows turn defeat into victory

Tarxien Rainbows moved to a more comfortable mid-table position as they survived an early scare to beat Qormi 4-1 at the Victor Tedesco Stadium to register a third consecutive win.

Qormi, on the other hand, disappointed after suffering narrow defeats in the previous four matches. In fact this was the fifth successive defeat, leaving them second from bottom on four points.

Tarxien had three changes from the team which defeated St. Andrews last week as Andrea Cassar and Anderson Raimundo da Silva replaced Sean Mintoff and Lucky Omeruo. On the other hand, Emerson Vella was named in the starting line-up for Qormi as Steve Agius was only included as a substitute.

Qormi took the lead on the 4th minute thanks to Terence Vella whose powerful shot beat goalkeeper Andrea Cassar.

Tarxien were unlucky not to equalise on the 14th when Luke Montebello hit the foot with a shot on the turn. However two minutes later, they levelled matters when Pedrinho’s freekick was partially saved by Jean Matthias Vella and off the rebound, Triston Caruana placed the ball inside the empty net.

The Rainbows forged ahead on the 21st when Joao Pedro Oliveira Santos’ powerful shot hit the upright before ending at the back of the net.

Five minutes later, Ebiabowei Baker made it 3-1 as he headed the ball home from close range following a corner.

One minute from time, substitute Danilo Meira Santos sealed the issue with a fourth goal with a powerful shot which was not held by goalkeeper Jean Matthias Vella.

QORMI Jean Matthias Vella, Alessio Cassar (80′ Juan Carlos Vieira Peixoto), Ousmane Sidibe, Noah Olawole Ojuola, Billy Velo Berntsson, Emerson Vella (46′ Steve Agius), Cifford Gauci, Kurt Magro (65′ Ryan Micallef), Carlo Monti, Terence Vella, Alex Nilsson.
Subs not used: Andreas Vella, Edward Falzon, Karl Sciortino, Sorin Virgil Oproiescu.
Coach: Johann Scicluna

TARXIEN Andrea Cassar, Ebiabowei Baker, Bruno Giglio de Olivieria, Triston Caruana, Brandon Muscat, Ayrton Azzopardi, Carlos Hevia Menendez (84′ Matthew Tabone), Luke Montebello (87′ Danilo Meira Santos), Alex da Paixao Alves, Joao Pedro Oliveira Santos (80′ Roderick Bajada), Andreson Raimundo da Silva.
Subs not used: Sean Mintoff, Manuel Caruana, Gaetano Gesualdi, Darren Sciberras.
Coach: Jacques Scerri

Referee: Malcolm Spiteri
Assistant Referees: Chris Francalanza, Ryan Aquilina
Fourth Official: Fyodor Zammit
Yellow Cards: Olawole, Baker, Magro, Muscat, T. Vella, Bertnsson, Hevia
Scorers: 4′ Terence Vella; 15′ Triston Caruana, 21′ Joao Pedro Oliveira Santos, 26′ Ebiabowei Baker, 89′ Danilo Meira Santos
BOV Player of the Match: Joao Pedro Oliveira Santos