Senglea A. 0
Gzira Utd. 1
Senglea A.: M. Farrugia, B. Muscat, F. Salvati, A. Volpini ( K. Cutajar 64') , K. Xuereb (L. Grech 22'), I. Gonzalez Benac, Z. Cassar (D. Micallef 73') , F. Bramati, M. Garcia, A. Caseres, R. Tcanturia
Gzira Utd. : J. Haber, R. Soares, A. Cohen, J. Corbalan, E. Zarate, R. Briffa, J. Da Silva Pereira (N. Muscat 72') , F. Barbosa Pereira, T. Veronese, A. Samb (C. Gatt Baldacchino 94') , H. Garba (Z. Scerri 46')
Referee: Stefan Pace
Asst refs: William Debattista, Dusan Petrovic
4th official: Daniel Portelli
Scorers: Amadou Samb 51'
Yellow cards: F. Bramati, F. Salvati, A. Volpini, M. Garcia, R. Briffa, Z. Scerri
Player of the match: Amadou Samb (Gzira Utd.)
TMI Top 3: 1. E. Zarate 2. A. Caseres 3. A. Samb
The Maroons from Gzira kept marching on at the top of the table when they beat basement side Senglea by a solitary goal. But this wasn't a stroll in the park since they had to sweat hard in order to gain the maximum points. They were hampered by losing captain Andrew Cohen who was sent off after only four minutes play.
Gzira were coming from four consecutive wins against Sliema, Hibernians, Birkirkara and Qormi. So far they only dropped a point against Hamrun in their second match of the campaign. Many critics thought that this match was going to be just a formality with the teams at the opposite ends of the table coming up against each other.
On the other hand the Cottonera outfit lying at the bottom of the table with just a draw against Pieta were desperate to gain something from this match. Moreover after suffering two thrashings against Valletta and Floriana in their last outings.
The match had an early twist as on four minutes the league leaders were reduced to ten man when Andrew Cohen retaliated for a foul by Salvati with the referee promptly showing red to the Maroons midfielder.
Senglea tried to take the initiative and on 8 minutes Tcanturia found Caseres but the latters shot from the edge of the area just missed the target. And on 12 minutes a Kieran Xuereb shot just missed the target.
For long stretches during the first forty five minutes play was restricted to the midfield sector and it was only on the stroke of half time that Gzira ventured forward for the first time when Samb supplied the cross from the right towards Garba but the Maroons forward was anticipated on time.
On resumption Gzira were more direct on the ball and in the 51st minute they broke the deadlock. Zarate found Samb on the right edge of the area and after dazzling past the Senglea rearguard placed the ball in the net.
Senglea reacted immediately when two minutes later a Caseres grounder was blocked by Haber. And in the 71st minute it was Karl Cutajar's turn to try his luck only for his shot to end inches wide.
Gzira were now in search of the killer blow and in the 74th minute off a Muscat cross from the right flank in came Samb who missed to find the net from close range. Veronese than came to his side's rescue when tackling on time Grech who was about to take a shot on goal with only Haber to beat.
Till the end Gzira controlled well and with five minutes of added time being given by the match official Senglea hoped that they could save the game. This was not to be with the Maroons cruising home to another win, though hard fought, but another three points bagged.
