Pieta H 3
Vittoriosa S 0
Pieta kept their sights on the Premier League with an easy victory over Vittoriosa Stars in a one-sided affair.
For Vittoriosa the defeat means a definite end to their slim promotion hopes.
On the other hand, Ramon Zammit’s eleven, once again produced a polished display dominating from start to finish, to earn their twelfth victory of the season and remain the best scoring side in the tournament with 43 goals.
Once again promising starlets like Neil Pace Cocks and Jan Busuttil had some very good moments, with the fast Gabriel Mensah shredding apart the Vittoriosa rearguard.
Pieta started like a house on fire creating several scoring opportunities. However, they had to wair till the 24th minute to break the deadlock when Neil Pace Cocks fired home from the edge of the area for a great goal.
Vittoriosa tried to react and had a Liam Gauci attempt on 33 minutes sailing over the bar.
Three minutes into the second half Pieta doubled the score when Gabriel Mensah pounced on an erratic short defensive clearance and with a clinical finish lobbed the ball over Vittoriosa goalkeeper Magri.
Pieta continued to dictate and went close to a third goal through Lawrence Chidozie, Gabriel Mensah and Jan Busuttil.
The latter finally found the back of the net on 84 minutes to crown an excellent performance.
He received from Quincy Bregman before hitting low in the corner of the net for Pieta’s third and final goal.
Pieta H: M. Montfort, L. Chiedozie, C. Degabriele, A. Mizzi, C. Gauci (T. Bartolo 77 min), Gabriel Mensah (N. Pisani 85 min), A. White, N. Pace Cocks (J.M. Artiaga 53 min), C. Grech, J. Busuttil, Q. Bregman.
Vittoriosa S: K. Magri, D. Pisani, K. Degiorgio, D. Fava, T. Abela Wilson, J. Ogonuppe, A. Farrugia, L. Gauci (A. Leilis 78 min), D. Tabone, F. Arriagada Mella, T. Aragawa.
Referee: Alex Johnson
Sweet revenge for Mqabba with second half goals
Mqabba 2
Qrendi 0
Mqabba took sweet revenge for their historic first round defeat against Qrendi, beating their neighbours with two late second half goals scored by Tomislav Trebovaz and Gianluca Micallef.
But Mqabba’s victory came after yet another dull performance by a side which is surely struggling in this decisive final run.
Against Qrendi it was a very tactical match, with very few scoring opportunities on both ends.
In the end Mqabba had the final laugh, thanks mainly to the likes of Trebovac Chimezie, Muscat and Gesualdi.
The first half was cagey with Qrendi having the best opportunity through Santos da Hora.
On the resumption things did not improve, even though Mqabba started to take territorial superiority.
Their efforst yielded the desired result as they forged ahead on 72 minutes when ex-Zebbug striker Tomislav Trebovac scored from close range.
Eight minutes later Qrendi were down to ten when Dasser Sammut was sent off for a vicious tackle on Micahel Borg, with the latter carried out injured and substituted.
Deep in stoppage time Mqabba sealed the issue with a second goal scored by substitute Gianfranco Micallef following a typical impressive Paul Chimezie run.
Mqabba: J. Debono, R. Tanti, B. Muscat, G. Gesualdi, K. Cutajar (G. Micallef 71 min), L. Micallef, N. Ojuola, M. Borg (L. Casha 83 min), M. Ciantar (M. del Negro 62 min), T. Trebovac, P. Chimezie.
Qrendi: J. Azzopardi, Z. Bowman, D. Martini, B. Bondin (D. Zarb 12 min), L. Scorfna, M. Barbara, A. Agius (E. Amaira 74 min), S. Nakamura, D. Sammut, D. Santos da Hora (J. Martins de Silva 76 min), K. Abela.
Referee: Sandro Spiteri
Zejtun march on
Zejtun C 4
Pembroke A 0
Zejtun notched their third win on the trot easily brushing aside a demotivated Pembroke side to register a double after their first-round minimal victory.
Zejtun were worthy winners yesterday as they dominated to keep their promotion hopes alive.
Zejtun are now playing at their best and with seven matches remaining they can still hope to catch up with the top three.
Yessous Camilleri who scored a dramatic winner against Marsa in Zejtun’s last outing, put his side ahead yesterday on 20 minutes.
Pembroke’s reaction was ineffective and Zejtun put the issue beyond doubt with two quick goals around the hour.
Ex-Rabat skipper Adam Smeir doubled the score on 58 minutes and star striker Johan Canas put the issue beyond doubt four minutes later.
Five minutes from time Zejtun scored the fourth and final goal through substitute Andrea Scozzese.
Żejtun C: D. Zarb, D. Albanese (A. Scozzese 65 min), Y. Camilleri, N. Tabone, O. El Hussieny (S. Nanapere 63 min), A. Smeir, G. Sultana (J. Galea 66 min), R. Dalli, J. Castano, A. Carabott.
Pembroke A: K. Gerada, C. Henrique Alves da Souza, N. Grech, Z. Grech, A. Hili, M. Mifsud, D. Cachia (W. Chircop 61 min), T. Fenech, I. Misan (G. Amarildo 73 min), Y. Tonna, J.P. Mifsud Triganza (L. Grech 77 min)
Referee: Paul Toledo