Narrow win for Gzira over nine-man Qormi

Gzira United regained sole leadership in the BOV Premier League as they defeated nine-man Qormi 1-0 at the Victor Tedesco Stadium on Saturday.

This was the fourth consecutive win for the Maroons and the third consecutive defeat for Qormi.

Gzira had Edison Bilbao Zarate and Jorginho replacing Destin Mambouana and the suspended Amadou Samb while Qormi had Alan Abela, Michael Camilleri and Michael Borg replacing Gaetano Gesualdi, Mario Andres Arrieta and Manolito Micallef.

Qormi had Tensior Gusman sent off on the 71st minute and eight minutes later, Gzira managed to break the deadlock thanks to Haruna Garba who intercepted a back-pass by Davide Mansi for goalkeeper Jamie Azzopardi and deposited the ball at the back of the net.

Substitute Gaetano Gesualdi picked a second yellow card for a reckless tackle on the 80th minute to leave Qormi playing in nine men.

GZIRA Justin Haber, Zachary Scerri (72′ Nikolai Muscat), Rodolfo Soares, Andrew Cohen, Juan Carlos Corbalan, Edison Bilbao Zarate, Roderick Briffa, Jorge da Silva Pereira, Sacha Borg (46′ Thomas Veronese), Fernando Barbosa Pereira (76′ Luca Brincat), Haruna Garba Zambuk.
Subs not used: Anthony Curmi, Destin Prince-Loic Mambouana, Clifford Gatt Baldacchino, Christian Sammut.
Coach: Darren Abdilla

QORMI Jamie Azzopardi, Davide Mansi, Yannick Yankam, Seo In Kim, Michael Borg, Michael Camilleri (73′ Luke Busuttil, Alan Abela, Alessio Cassar (64′ Gaetano Gesualdi), Lubos Adamec, Kassiano Soares Mendonca (83′ Alexsandro Ferreira), Tensior Gusman.
Subs not used: Dorian Bugeja, Mario Andres Arrieta, Manolito Micallef, Shamison Zammit.
Coach: Brian Spiteri
Asst. Coach: Matthew Psaila

Referee: Darryl Agius
Assistant Referees: Luke Portelli, Dusan Petrovic
Fourth Official: Sandro Spiteri
Yellow Cards: Jorginho, Kassiano, Corbalan, Scerri, Gesualdi, Briffa
Red Cards: 71’ Tensior Gusman, 80’ Gaetano Gesualdi
BOV Player of the Match: Juan Carlos Corbalan