Antoine Sacco showed all his finishing power when he netted both goals, one in each for Lija Atheltic who beat a gallant Pieta side.

Lija had to play the last twenty minutes of the game with a man less when they had their goalkeeper Mintoff sent off. Pieta deserved something better from this match but Lija, considered to be one of the promotion favourites, confirmed their potential with a balanced display and deadly finishing.

Pieta’s Bamdeira left a good impression, but the Hotspurs missed Zach Muscat’s sharpness in front of goal.

Pieta were the better team in the opening stages with their new signings Brazilian Robson Luiz Bamdeira and Serbian Stefan Lijaski showing some good touches. On 15 minutes Pieta missed a golden opportunity when Refalo passed towards the unmarked Bamdeira who shot slightly wide from an ideal position.

On 24 minutes Pieta had another effort from Mifsud sailing over the bar. Three minutes later Lija opened the score. Credit goes to Adzanovic who did the spade work on the right before passing towards Antoine Sacco who hammered the ball home from close range.

Nine minutes into the second half Lija doubled the score when from a Keith Darmanin freekick, the Pieta defence was caught napping and in nipped Antoine Sacco to score his second goal of the match.

Pieta looked doomed but on 71 minutes Bamdeira beat the offside trap and was blocked by goalkeeper Mintoff who handled the ball outside the area and was rightly sent off.

Pieta failed tocapitalise from their numerical superiority as Lija continued to defend in style to grab their first three points of the season.

Pieta H M.Montfort, C. Spiteri, R. Mifsud, Q. Refalo, R. Bamdeira, S. Grech (D. Camilleri), S. Lijaski, C. Cassar, J. Pisani, D. Mifsud, K. Cassar.

Lija A S. Mintoff, A. Saliba, D. Scerri, A. Sacco, M. Potezica, K. Darmanin, A. Scicluna (K. Formosa), A. Dzanovic, B. Antignolo (L. Bonnici), M. Fleri Soler, T. Fleri Soler (D. Caruana).

Referee Glenn Tonna