Gzira U.           1
Qormi              0

Gzira U.: J. Haber, Z. Scerri (N. Muscat 72), R. Soares, A. Cohen, JC Corbolan, E. Bilbao Zarate, R. Briffa, J. Pereira, S. Borg (T. Veronese 46), F. Barbosa (L. Brincat 76), H. Garba

Qormi: J. Azzopardi, D. Mansi, Y. Yankam, S. Kim, M. Borg, M. Camilleri (L. Busuttil 73), A. Abela, A. Cassar (G. Gesualdi 64), L. Adamec, M. Soares Mendonca (A. Ferreira 84), T. Gusman

Referee: D. Agius

Asst refs: L. Portelli, D. Petrovic

4^th official: S. Spiteri

Scorer: H. Garba 79

Yellow cards: J. Pereira 49, R. Briffa 68, JC Corbolan 69, Z. Scerri

Red card: T. Gusman 70, G. Gesualdi 80

Player of the match: JC Corbolan

TMI Top 3: 1. S. Kim, 2. JC Corbolan, 3. R. Briffa

A perfect gift goal by Qormi defender Davide Mansi gave Gzira three important points which have enabled them to extend their lead at the top to three points.

A crazy back pass by Mansi in the 79^th minute sent his own goalie the wrong way, allowing Haruna Garba the easiest of opportunities to score what proved to be the winner against the luckless 9-man Qormi side.

Gzira now have a three-point lead over second placed Sliema who were held to a goalless draw by Hamrun on Friday evening.

Gzira had to play this match without top striker Amadou Samb who was ruled out through suspension.

In the first half, play was rather boring and restricted to midfield for long stretches.

Gzira dominated from start to finish but Qormi kept them at bay as the Yellow Blacks were well organised at the back.

On the other hand, Qormi rarely, if ever, managed to enter the Gzira penalty area and goalie Justin Haber had one of his easiest afternoons having practically nothing to do.

In the second half, Gzira maintained their domination, but Qormi still defended stubbornly making it very difficult for Gzira to penetrate their area.

It was only 11 minutes from time that Gzira managed to break the deadlock and although it was a gift goal, one must admit that they deserved their win.

The first action arrived on the 11^th minute - a fine run by Juan Carlos Corbolan which ended with a shot albeit through a precious gift from the Yellow Blacks.

Until that moment, Qormi appeared to be heading for a precious point as their fort never was in danger of collapsing.

But that goal certainly

There was absolutely nothing to report on during the opening 40 minutes apart from this action.

It was in the 42^nd minute that Gzira tried again when from a Briffa cornerkick, it was Haruna Garba who headed well over the bar.

Moments later, Corbolan again found some space on the edge of the area, but his low shot was easily saved by Azzopardi.

In the 56^th minute, Qormi goalie Azzopardi did well to gather the ball confidently from a dangerous Zarate cross. Soon after, it was Rodolfo Soares who went close with a header following a Zarate cross.

At the other end, in Qormi's first attempt, it was Tensior Gusman who tried his luck from the edge of the area, but the ball went wide.

Gzira continued with their domination and Qormi were stubborn at the back, but in the 70^th minute, the game became more uphill for Qormi as they ended up in 10 men following the dismissal of Tensior Gusman.

In the 79^th minute, Gzira were gifted their precious lead when Qormi defender Mansi rather foolishly sent his own goalie the other way with a crazy backpass and Haruna Garba had absolutely no difficulty in planting the ball home.

Soon after, Qormi ended up in 9 men as substitute Gesualdi was shown a second yellow card and he was dismissed.

In added time, Gzira almost added another but Brincat's effort was blocked to a corner.