Gzira United earned their first three points as they defeated Santa Lucia 3-1 at the Tony Bezzina Stadium on Saturday.
The Maroons took a two-goal lead and although Santa Lucia pulled one back, Gzira scored again to go 3-1 ahead by the end of the first half.
Luis Riascos Torres, Marcelo Dias and substitutes Andy Borg and Brooklyn Borg made their league debut for Gzira while Santa Lucia, under the guidance of new coach Pablo Cortes Sanchez, had Matthew Calleja Cremona, Thomas Rier, Robert Bairam, Liam Ayad, Erick Moreno and Miguel Alba making their first appearance along with Reon Saito and Francisco Eliomar Rodrigues Farias who were included as substitutes.
The Maroons took the lead on the 14th minute when following a corner from the left, the ball was deflected in the direction of Maxuell Maia who headed the ball home past goalkeeper Matthew Calleja Cremona.
Nine minutes later, Gzira doubled the score when Jefferson de Assis exchanged the ball with Marcelo Dias on the right and the former managed to beat the Santa Lucia goalkeeper with a great back heel effort from a close angle.
Santa Lucia reduced the gap on the 32nd minute courtesy of Miguel Angel Alba whose freekick was blocked by a Gzira defender, slamming the ball home off the rebound.
However Gzira regained a two-goal lead seven minutes from the end of the first half thanks to Jefferson de Assis who pounced on a through pass and anticipated Calleja Cremona, who rushed out of the area, depositing the ball inside the empty net.
>> Gzira United vs Santa Lucia match card