Mqabba 1
San Gwann 0
Ten-man Mqabba beat San Gwann with an Anywanna penalty in the first half to gain three precious points, joining Marsa in third place. It was a hard earned win against a determined and wasteful San Gwann side, with the winners playing for more than 45 minutes with a player less as Anywanna was sent off minutes after giving his side the winning goal, for elbowing an opponent.
San Gwann dominated the second half in search of the all-important equaliser but found in the Mqabba goalkeeper Calleja an unbeatable opponent. This defeat puts more pressure on San Gwann who are now still in a desperate position after suffering their fourth consecutive defeat.
San Gwann had the first attempt with Penza missing the target and on the other end Anywanna shot wide from an acute angle. After this promising start, the match had few scoring chances, with Mqabba enjoying the lion’s share of the exchanges.
On 28 minutes Anywanna made his way past two defenders but missed the target from the edge of the penalty area.
On 39 minutes Marlon Briffa beat Zammit Fava on the run, with the ex-Sliema player flooring Briffa. From the resultant penalty Anywanna made no mistake with a grounder even though Justin Spiteri went very close to save his shot.
Two minutes later Anywanna again stole the show when he elbowed off Luke Vella Critien and referee Azzopardi immediately extracted the red card.
San Gwann surged forward in the last minutes but the Mqabba defence held well.
San Gwann started the second half on a high and goalkeeper Calleja had to be at his best to keep San Gwann at bay. First he blocked a point blank header from Penza, after a good run by Anizoba, and later he dived to beautifully block a Loughborough dipper.
On 54 minutes Calleja charged out of position to block the onrushing Anizoba. On the hour Mqabba broke the onslaught and were unlucky not to double the score when a Busuttil scorcher hit the crossbar with Spiteri beaten.
San Gwann went close again on 67 minutes when Calleja saved Saliba’s close range header and Tellus saved off the fatal line Penza’s attempt from the rebound. On the other end Marlon Briffa missed a sitter after an inspiring move by Muscat.
In the end San Gwann’s pressure proved fruitless as Mqabba bagged three precious points to keep their promotion hopes alive.