A Vinicius Dos Santos brace in the second half gave Pieta an important victory over a gallant and rather unlucky Lija side yesterday, to move three points clear at the top over second placed Rabat Ajax.

The result is a very harsh decision on Lija who dominated the first half and were kept at bay by some brilliant saves by goalkeeper Miguel Montfort, arguably the best player on the field of play.

The twist in the match came half way through the second half when in the space of a couple of minutes, Lija were reduced to ten men, and two minutes later Pieta were awarded a controversial penalty.

With Pieta in the lead, and Lija reduced to ten men, the match was now in Pieta’s hands as they easily controlled Lija’s feeble reaction, and eight minutes from time they sealed off the game with a second goal, again scored by Dos Santos.

Lowly Lija were a determined side in the first half and Pieta were kept in the game by a string of excellent saves from goalkeeper Miguel Montfort. On ten minutes an Antoine Sacco shot slightly missed the base of the upright.

Four minutes later Pieta went close when following a Jurgen Pisani freekick, Giaccaglia’s header missed the crossbar by a whisker. Six minutes Lija almost took the lead when a Daniel Scerri scorcher was partially saved by Montfort and from the rebound, the Pieta custodian effected the best save of the first half when he blocked Thomas Caruana’s poin t blank shot from close range.

On 20 minutes a Renato Conceicao freekick went inches high and minutes another freekick this time taken by Ige was again brilliantly saved by Montfort. Pieta lost Giaccaglia minutes who limped off injured.

On the half hour Pieta had a good opportunity with Dos Santos missing a good chance from close range and the same player slightly missed the target minutes later with a shot from the edge of the area.

In the closing stages of the first half Lija were again menacing with a Timoty Fleri Soler header that was saved by Montfort, and in the last shot at goal Antoine Sacco missed a sitter blasting high from two meters.

In the opening stages of the second half both sides went close with near misses from own goals, as defenders were erratic in an attempt to clear. On 65 minutes Lija were reduced to ten players when Andre Scicluna was sent off after receiving his second yellow card. And two minutes later Pieta were awarded a rather controversial penalty when Zach Muscat was apparently pushed by a Lija defender after an aerial duel, with the referee pointing to the penalty spot.

Vinicius Dos Santos converted in style. Now it was an uphill task for Lija, trying to save a deserved point with ten men. Seven minutes from time Cain Attard made his way inside the penalty area and tested Ini who could only partially save and from the rebound Vinicius Dos Santos slotted the ball home to put the issue beyond doubt.

Pieta H – M. Montfort, S. Micallef (C. Attard), C. Spiteri (M. Agius), E. Giaccaglia (C. Cutajar), Z. Muscat, P. Dos Santos, C. Cassar, J. Zarate, J.Pisani, I. Grech, A. Farrugia

Lija A – E. Ini, T. Fleri Soler, M. Fleri Soler, A. Sacco, R. Conceicao, D. Scerri, E. Beu, J.P. Scerri, A. Ige, A. Scicluna, T. Caruana (B. Camilleri)(B. Fenech)(E. Briffa)

Referee – Andrew J. Sammut

Second half comeback for Zejtun

St George’s 1

Zejtun C 4

Zejtun scored four goals in the seconmd half against lowly St George’s and kept the pressure on the top three sides in the table.

It wasa harsh result on St George’s who played one of their best matches, but the Cottonera side failed miserably in the final thirteen minutes, suffering three goals in the process.

Zejtun had a promising start and after only three minutes a Kalin Ganchev shot smashed against the crossbar. But four minutes later St George’s took a surprise lead when a Zarb freekick was cleared by the Zejtun defence and Emerson Amaira first timed a beauty from the edge of the area with the ball finishing in the top corner of the net.

Zejtun could not come to grips with their opponents’ well organized defence with Sevasta again playing a blinder. St George’s were dangerous in their fast breaks with Ruiz and new signing De Azevedo keeping the Zejtun defence under pressure.

On 22 minutes De Azevedo missed a glorious chance when he failed to score with only Farrugia to beat. Zejtun piled up the pressure in the end of the first half, but they never really tested goalkeeper Galea.

On the resumption Zejtun introduced Jesmar Abela for Lyden Micallef, and on 48 minutes they were back on level terms when Edward Azzopardi scored direct from a freekick that completely deceived the Saints’ rearguard.

Zejtun were now a transformed side as they weaved several attacks on the Saints’ defence. Striker Kenneth Abela could have scored on 57 minutes but his angled shot was well saved by Thomas Galea.

The Saints did not give away an inch and had their good scoring chances too with a Ruiz shot going inches wide and a De Azevedo grounder was well saved by Ranier Farrugia.

But onn 77 minutes Zejtun forged ahead when Filipov passed towards Kenneth Abela who headed home from close range.

This was a dealy blow for the Saints who faded away and suffered a third goal six minutes later. This time it was Ganchev who crossed from the right flank and Kenneth Abela was again deadly with his header.

In stoppage time there was some glory for Carmel Formosa too when he entered as a substitute to score the fourth and final goal when he scored from the rebound after a Ganchev shot was partially saved by Galea.

St. George’s – T. Galea, C. Grech, E. Sevasta, A. Abela, N. Curmi, E. Amaira, D. Zarb, G. Bonello (R. Boutahir), H. Schembri (K. Grech), J. Ruiz, W. De Azevedo.

Zejtun C – R. Farrugia, A. Farrugia, E. Azzopardi, M. Borg, C. Magro, V. Camilleri, N. Filipov (C. Formosa), K. Ganchev, L. Micalef (J. Abela), R. Cauchi (S. Sciberras), K. Abela.

Referee – Fyodor Zammit