Sliema W.: M. Akanji, J. Brincat, A. Muscat, B. Said, D. Debono, N. Turner, D. Doncic, J. Farrugia (A. Mifsud), R. Mangion, O. Anonam, K. Laferla.
Lija Ath.: S. Agius, D. Okeke, M. Gatt (N. Zammit), D. Cosaitis, N. Gatt, S. Spasov, D. Scerri, G. Camenzuli (A. Ellul), G. Barry, P. Camilleri.
Referee: A. Azzopardi. Asst refs: A. Camilleri, N. Debattista. 4th official: AM Sant.
Scorers: E. Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: G. Camenzuli, G. Barry,
Red card: D. Debono
Best player of match: Simon Agius (Lija).
TMI Top 3: 1. S. Agius; 2. N. Turner; 3. R. Mangion.
Champions Sliema Wanderers received one of their biggest setback yesterday evening as they stumbled to an unlikely defeat to lowly Lija Athletic.
It was the biggest surprise of the season so far as Lija plugged all the gaps at the back, inspired by an excellent performance from goalkeeper Simon Agius, rightly voted man of the match.
Sliema were unrecognisable for most of the time as they could not get past a determined and well organised Lija defence, sometimes packed with nine and even ten men.
But from the 20th minute onwards, the Blues took command and penned Lija into their own half for long stretches, contriving to miss some good chances, especially through Doncic.
Yet, despite all their attacks, the champions failed to score as Lija survived to go on and provide the champions with a big setback and perhaps their biggest humilation in recent years.
It was a performance which Sliema need to forget as quickly as possible. Not only they failed to get to grips with the resilient Lija, but they also risked heavily in the second half when the Athletic counter-attacked with a certain amount of danger, also missing what must rank as one of the easiest chances which a footballer will ever have in his career, before scoring their winner.
On nine minutes, Barry advanced alone on the right, but his shot passed across goal.
On 24 minutes, Sliema finally made their presence felt. From a Farrugia cornerkick, Darren Debono’s header hit the crossbar.
Three minutes later, it was Brincat who tried his luck from the distance, but the ball went wide. Moments later, Brincat set Doncic in the area, but Amgius dived at his feet to avoid an awkward situation.
A Brincat freekick on 31 minutes created havoc in front of Agius but Daniel Cosaitis managed to clear the ball away. Soon afterwards, Agius was the protagonist as he turned to corner a Doncic header.
On 34 minutes, Sliema missed their best opportunity when Anonam served Doncic perfectly, but the latter, with only Agius to beat, headed incredibly wide from three metres.
On the 41st minute, Anonam fired a 20 metres shot which skimmed the post.And three minutes later, off a Turner cornerkick, Farrugia’s header also went wide.
At the start of the second half, Said missed the flight of the ball and Barry was through again, but the Lija striker hit well wide of the target.
At the other end, a Rupert Mangion cross had substitute Adrian Mifsud arriving a second too late.
Lija replied on 63 minutes with a Paul Camilleri shot that missed the upright. At the other end, four minutes later, it was Darren Debono who hit wide from an ideal position.
On 70 minutes Lija missed a glorious God-sent opportunity when Nicholas Gatt won a ball in midfield and advanced alone with Glen Barry towards Akanji. On entering the area, he elected to pass to Barry who had remained behind, instead of hitting at goal.
On 78 minutes, Sliema also had a good chance. Off a Kris Laferla freekick, Brian Said was unmarked, but his header went over.
Sliema even had to finish the match in 10 men as Darren Debono was shown the red card after a second bookable offence.
And Sliema paid dearly for their earlier deficiencies as Lija stunned them with an 89th minute strike. In another counter-attack, Barry squared low for Elton Azzopardi to hit home past Akanji amid the disbelief of the Sliema clan.
The victory means that Valletta remain sole leaders though Sliema have a match in hand.