Naxxar L 1

Pieta H 3

Pieta extended their lead at the top to three points after a hard earned victory against in-form Naxxar. Vinicius Pereira Dos Santos was once again a key player for the Hotspurs scoring a brace and playing a brilliant match.

Adrian Farrugia and Jonathan Zarate played a very good match in midfield, and Jonathan Holland made his debut for the Hotspurs, but was substituted half way through the game.

Naxxar were not at their best yesterday and made steps backwards over their recent good performances. However the Lions gave the league leaders a very good run for their money and only threw in the towel in the final minutes of the match.

Naxxar did the early running and Hallison Lima Siqueira missed a good chance hitting slightly wide. Minutes later Darren Falzon failed to connect when well placed.

On 11 minutes Pieta took the lead when Vinicius Pereira Dos Santos crossed towards Jurgen Pisani who beat Azzopardi with a low shot. Minutes later Jonathan Holland’s attempt slightly missed the base of the upright.

Pieta controlled with relative ease the remaining minutes of the first half as Naxxar failed to make a decent reaction.

On the resumption however, Naxxar played better and pressed for the equaliser. They held territorial superiority for long stretches but they never worried goalkeeper Montfort.

However there were some anxious moments in the Pieta penalty area with shots from Bellia and Andrea Del Negro blocked by Pieta defenders.

On 73 minutes Vinicius Pereira Dos Santos eased Pieta’s worries when he scored a gem of a goal. He won a ball in midfield and powered his way past four Naxxar defenders before beating Azzopardi for a glorious goal.

Six minutes later Naxxar were given a lifeline by Pieta goalkeeper Montfort who failed to grasp a harmless cross from the right and Darren Falzon was on hand to hammer the ball home. Naxxar pushed everything forward but two minutes later, they had to throw in the towel when Pieta sealed the issue with a third goal.

Adrian Farrugia floated a perfect freekick towards Vinicius Pereira Dos Santos whose header gave Azzopardi no chance to save.

Naxxar L: J. Azzopardi, J. Debono, L. Micallef, A. Attard, R. Schembri, H. Lima Siqueira, M. Maccari, V. Bellia, D. Falzon, A. Rocha Da Silva (A. Del Negro), M. Del Negro.

Pieta H: M. Montfort, C. Spiteri, C. Grech, J. Holland (K. Cutajar), T. Agius (C. Attard), Z. Muscat, V. Pereira Dos Santos, C. Cassar, J. Zarate, J. Pisani (S. Micallef), A. Farrugia.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi