Santa Lucia claimed another three precious points as they defeated ten-man Senglea Athletic 5-2 at the Hibernians Stadium on Saturday.
Santa Lucia, therefore, leapfrog once again Sliema and Gudja and now lie tenth on 23 points two behind Balzan, Hamrun and Mosta and two ahead of Sliema and Gudja while Senglea remain second from bottom on 16 points as they have now gone twelve matches without a win. For Santa Lucia, this was the fourth win in five matches.
Santa Lucia forged ahead on the 3rd minute when off a cross by Jamie Zerafa, Gabriel Bohrer Mentz served Kevin Pinheiro Correira who slotted the ball past goalkeeper Matthew Farrugia.
Rei Tachikawa doubled the score on the 12th minute when he received a cross by Leighton Grech and beat the Senglea goalkeeper with a fine shot.
Santa Lucia were awarded a penalty on the 22nd after Dejan Debono handled the ball inside the area and the Senglea defender was sent off. However Maxuell Maia da Silva’s effort from the penalty spot was saved by the Senglea goalkeeper.
Six minutes in the second half, Rei Tachikawa increased the lead with an angled shot which beat Farrugia when served by Maxuell.
Juninho Cabral reduced the gap for Senglea three minutes later with a low shot from inside the area.
However, on the hour, Maxuell Maia da Silva scored a fourth goal for Santa Lucia when he received a pass by Tachikawa and hit low with the ball hitting the foot of the upright before ending at the back of the net.
Six minutes later, substitute Jacob Walker made it 5-1, hitting home when served by Camilo del Castillo Escobar.
Three minutes from time, Senglea scored a second goal when they were awarded a penalty after Juninho Cabral was floored inside the area and from the penalty spot, Jose Wilkson Teixeira made no mistake.
SENGLEA Matthew Farrugia (76′ Daniel Farrugia), Connor Zammit, Dejan Debono, Elvis Sakyi (58′ Jan Tanti), Siraj Arab Eddin, Taisei Marukawa, Jose Wilkson Teixeira, Nikola Braunovic, Jurgen Debono (52′ Justin Micallef), Juninho Cabral, Anderson Carneiro do Nascimento.
Subs not used: Brandon Mangion, Manolito Micallef, Wilfried Zamble, David Xuereb.
Coach: Giorgio Roselli
Asst. Coach: Davor FilipovicSANTA LUCIA Timothy Aquilina (69′ Ryan Caruana), Gabriel Bohrer Mentz, Kevin Pinheiro Correia, Adam Magri Overend, Maxwell Maia da Silva (66′ Jamie Magri Overend), Luis Riascos Torres, Jamie Zerafa (63′ Jacob Walker), Camilo del Castillo Escobar, Rei Tachikawa, Paulo Henrique Santos de Azevedo, Leighton Grech.
Subs not used: Neil Micallef, Daniel Agius, Omar Elouni, Lee Galea.
Coach: Oliver Spiteri
Asst. Coach: Brian ChetcutiReferee: Stefan Pace
Assistant Referees: Chris Francalanza, James Muscat
Fourth Official: Philip Farrugia
Yellow Cards: Arab, Paulo Henrique, Sakyi
Red Cards: 22′ Dejan Debono
BOV Player of the Match: Rei TachikawaAttendance: