Lija earn the three points in basement clash

Lija Athletic collected the three points in a 3-1 win over Senglea Athletic at the Centenary Stadium on Wednesday.

A win which enables them to leapfrog Tarxien Rainbows to move third from bottom. Lija collected seven points from the last four matches. Senglea, on the other hand, suffered their eleventh consecutive defeat.

Lija took the lead on the 23rd minute when Ismael Borg intercepted a clearance by Sergio Uyi and served Walter Serrano whose assist put Fernando Brandan through and the latter pulled to the right before beating Matthew Farrugia with a shot from outside the area.

Three minutes later, Senglea equalised thanks to a Dibola Diwoto Junior header following a freekick from the left by Daneel Abela.

Lija regained the lead five minutes in the second half when off a cross from the right by Carl Cassar, Miguel Jimenez headed home past Farrugia.

On the 71st minute, Lija sealed the issue with another goal courtesy of a Pedro Luiz Gusso header following a corner from the left by Virano.

SENGLEA Matthew Farrugia, Sergio Uyi, Zachary Cassar, Alan Abela, Freud Gnindokponou (80′ Joseph Attard), Samuel Buhagiar, Dion Fava, Daneel Abela (59′ David Xuereb), Junior Dibola Diwoto, Dejan Kukic (74′ Wilkerson Gomes), Luca Brincat (59′ Ronny Song).
Coach: Clive Mizzi

LIJA Luke Bonnici, Carl Joseph Cassar, Pedro Luiz Gusso, Ismael Borg, Neil Micallef (89′ Gianluca Falzon), Fernando Javier Brandan, Walter Omar Serrano, Miguel Jimenez (90+1′ Beppe Antignolo), Juan Cruz Gill, Gonzalo Virano (71′ Daniel Scerri), Carlos Flores.
Coach: Joseph Galea

Referee: Malcolm Spiteri
Assistant Referees: Mitchell Scerri, Duncan Spencer
Fourth Official: Ishmael Barbara
Yellow Cards: Z. Cassar, F. Brandan, D. Kukic
BOV Player of the Match:  Fernando Brandan