Maiden win for Lija Athletic

Lija Athletic finally managed to register their first win as they came back from two goals down to beat Tarxien Rainbows 3-2 at the Centenary Stadium on Saturday.

For Tarxien, this was the third consecutive defeat while for Lija, this win enables them to close in on St. Andrews and Naxxar although they are still bottom of the table.

Ryan Darmanin put the Rainbows ahead on the 22nd minute and after that Lija had Erjon Beu sent off two minutes later, Godwin McKay doubled the score on the 34th minute.

Four minutes in the second half, Patrick Borg reduced the gap for Lija and Raphael Kooh Sohna equalised on the 66th minute. Sean Cipriott was sent off for Tarxien on the 74th minute and one minute in added time, Raphael Kooh Sohna notched the winner for Lija.

TARXIEN Christian Cassar, Ebiabowei Baker, Godwin McKay, Edward Calin (78’ Mamadou Traore), Ayrton Azzopardi (62’ Matthew Spiteri), James Brincat, Andre Scicluna, Artur Benes, Ryan Darmanin (82’ Matteo Desira Buttigieg), Ricardo Silva Faria, Sean Cipriott.
Subs not used: Antonio Chetcuti, Matthew Brincat, Luke Grech, Arsene Cilia Mumford.
Coach: Jose Borg

LIJA Luke Bonnici, Predrag Babic, Patrick Borg (83’ Leon Muscat), Daniel Scerri, Erjon Beu, Leejoe Schembri, Raphael Kooh Sohna, Abubakar Bello-Osagie (72’ Aidan Galea), Carl Cassar (88’ McAllister Clinch), Ousmane Sidibe, Djamel Leeflang.
Subs not used: Jonathan Martinelli, Aaron Sammut, Joaquin Lores Varela, Nigel Spiteri.
Coach: Joseph Galea

Referee: Emanuel Grech
Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Chris Francalanza
Fourth Official: Darryl Agius
Yellow Cards: Beu, Scerri, Sidibe, Cipriott, Calin, Scicluna, Cassar
Red Cards: 24’ Erjon Beu, 74’ Sean Cipriott

Meanwhile at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, Mosta scored late in the game to hold Gzira United in a 2-2 draw.

The Maroons have therefore failed to win any of their last three matches, now falling into third place. Mosta, on the other hand, bounced back from a disappointing defeat to Balzan to earn their third positive result from the last four matches.

An own goal put Mosta ahead on the 10th minute but Moises Avila Perez levelled matters on the 36th. Samba Tounkara converted a penalty on the 59th to give the Maroons the lead but Tyrone Farrugia scored on the 90th to restore equilibrium.

GZIRA Justin Huber, Gary Muir, Souleymane Diamoutene, Sem Kemana Ogolong, Sasha Borg, Moises Avila Perez, Roderick Briffa, Andrew Cohen (62’ Zach Scerri), Juan Corbalan, Ndubuisi Emmanuel Okoye, Samba Tournakara (81’ Nikolai Muscat).
Subs not used: Anthony Curmi, Andre White, Clifford Gatt Baldacchino, Karl Pulo, Samuel Ogundare.
Coach: Darren Abdilla

MOSTA Andreas Vella, Leonardo Henrique Ferreira, Zachary Brincat (46’ Jasir Bekjiri), Thomas Veronese, Kurt Magro, David Ifenayi Nworah (70’ Calvin Camilleri), Tyrone Farrugia, Dexter Xuereb, Edison Bilbao Zarate (83’ Nicholas Farrugia), Ivan Maric, Jonas Rodriguez Ekani.
Subs not used: Andy Attard, Liam Portelli, Jurgen Grech, Jeanpaul Formosa.
Coach: Johann Scicluna

Referee: Alan Mario Sant
Assistant Referees: Jurgen Spiteri, Luke Portelli
Fourth Official: Malcolm Spiteri
Yellow Cards: Magro, Ekani, Avila Perez, Okoye