Hamrun Spartans collected another three precious points in the battle against relegation as they defeated Senglea Athletic 1-0 at the National Stadium on Monday.
The Spartans move three points clear of Balzan and Mosta although they are still seventh. On the other hand, Senglea remain second from bottom on sixteen points, four behind Sliema and Santa Lucia. They have now gone eleven matches without a win
Ironically, Senglea went close to taking the lead nine minutes in the second half when off a cross by Ricardinho from the left, Juninho Cabral’s header hit the crossbar.
However, seven minutes from time, the Spartans managed to break the deadlock. Clayton Failla concluded a fine move in which he dribbled a number of players before testing Matthew Farrugia with a low shot from the left; the ball was blocked by the Senglea goalkeeper and off the rebound, substitute Soufiane Lagzir controlled before hitting low past the helpless Farrugia.
Two minutes later, Hamrun could have doubled the score but Ailton Jorge dos Santos Soares’ fierce shot from the edge of the area hit the crossbar.
HAMRUN Manuel Bartolo, Conor Borg, Ailton Jorge dos Santos Soares, Clayton Failla, Matthew Gauci (46’ Soufiane Lagzir), Nicola Leone, Valdo Goncalves Alhinho, Karl Micallef, Carlos Manuel Flores (90+1‘ Andre Scicluna), Mattia Cinquini, Piotr Branicki (23’ Darren Borg).
Subs not used: Jean Claude Debattista, Christopher Galea, Nikolai Micallef, Miguel Tabone.
Coach: Andrea CiaramellaSENGLEA Matthew Farrugia, Connor Zammit, Sigitas Olberkis, Dejan Debono, Siraj Arab Eddin, Gonzalo Nicolas Virano (68’ Jurgen Debono), Jose Wilkson Teixeira, Nikola Braunovic, Juninho Cabral, Justin Micallef (85’ Jan Tanti), Ricardo Theodoro de Almeida (78’ Wilfried Zamble).
Subs not used: Daniel Farrugia, Brandon Mangion, Manolito Micallef, David Xuereb.
Coach: Giorgio Roselli
Asst. Coach: Davor FilipovicReferee: Emanuel Grech
Assistant Referees: Chris Francalanza, Ivan Galea
Fourth Official: Alex Johnson
Yellow Cards: Virano, Lagzir, Teixeira, Tanti, Bartolo
BOV Player of the Match: Ricardo Theodoro de AlmeidaAttendance: 269