Senglea Athletic scored twice in the second half to beat ten-man Sliema Wanderers 2-0 at the Centenary Stadium on Friday.
Senglea therefore join Hamrun in third place on 11 points, three points behind the leaders while this fourth defeat in seven matches leaves the Wanderers third from bottom on five points.
Sliema were reduced to ten men on the hour as Robert Carvajal was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a reckless tackle. Two yellow cards for reckless tackles in just three minutes.
Four minutes later, Senglea managed to break the deadlock thanks to Wilfried Zamble who headed the ball home off a cross by Taisei Marukawa.
On the 76th minute, Senglea doubled the score to kill any hopes Sliema would get back in contention when substitute Jan Tanti served Taisei Marukawa who slotted the ball past Galea
SENGLEA Anthony Curmi, Sigitas Olberkis, Dejan Debono, Elvis Sakyi, Manolito Micallef, Gonzalo Nicolas Virano (78′ David Xuereb), Taisei Marukawa, Jose Wilkson Teixeira (71′ Jan Tanti), Sean Cipriott (81′ Justin Micallef), Wilfried Zamble, Marcelo Dias.
Subs not used: Matthew Farrugia, Leighton Grech, Andrei Spiteri, Karl Pulo.
Coach: Steven Vella
Goalkeepers’ Coach: Mario Muscat
SLIEMA Jake Galea, Michele Sansone, Alex Satariano, Kurt Shaw, Jonathan Pearson (72′ Juan Cruz Gill), Claudio Zappa, Juri Cisotti (79′ Kiliah Amehi), Robert Johan Carvajal Diaz, Edmond Agius, Stanimir Miloskovic (69′ Mark Scerri), Claudio Pani.
Subs not used: Glenn Zammit, John Mintoff, Peter Xuereb, Jean Paul Farrugia.
Coach: Alfonso Greco
Asst. Coach: Ivan Woods
Goalkeepers’ Coach: Mark Vella
Referee: Alex Johnson
Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Theodore Zammit
Fourth Official: Alan Mario Sant
Yellow Cards: Pani, Debono, Carvajal, Miloskovic, Agius
Red Cards: 60′ Robert Carvajal
BOV Player of the Match: Taisei Marukawa
Attendance: 483