NAXXAR LIONS 0-3 ŻABBAR ST PATRICK
Brian Gambarte 43, 54; Martim Ferreira 86
Żabbar St. Patrick registered a second successive win as a brace by Brian Gambarte paved the way for a 3-0 win over Naxxar Lions.
The Saints, therefore, confirmed that they will battle till the end with Balzan, Naxxar and Melita to avoid the bottom two places in the Opening Round.
On the other hand, for Naxxar, this was a highly disappointing result after earning four points from the previous two matches in a win over Melita and a draw with Gżira United.
Żabbar had one change from the team which defeated Balzan last week as Djordje Jovicic replaced the suspended Vinicius De Paiva while Naxxar had new signing Francis Jno-Baptiste making his debut as he replaced Caxambu while Luan Sergio was preferred to Kayne Haber.
The Saints made their intentions clear right from the start but Naxxar goalkeeper Matthias Debono came to the rescue, blocking powerful shots by Diogo Tavares and Joao Pedro on 11 minutes.
Two minutes later, Naxxar replied with a Neil Pace Cocks freekick from the left from which Fernando Barbosa served Nikolai Micallef whose header hit the upright.
A powerful shot by Gambarte from outside the area ended over the bar on 16 minutes.
Luan Sergio tested Matthew Grech with a powerful drive from the left on 26 minutes and on 40 minutes, Pace Cocks had a low shot from outside the area deflected into a corner.
However two minutes from the end of the first half, Żabbar managed to take the lead. Gambarte beat goalkeeper Debono with a fine long distance shot which saw the ball end in the top right corner.
Nine minutes in the second half, Żabbar doubled the score when they were awarded a penalty after Fernando Barbosa floored Stefan Ilic inside the area. From the penalty spot, Gambarte converted.
The Saints missed a good opportunity to increase the lead on 64 minutes when off a pass by Gambarte from the right, substitute Marcelo Santos, all alone in front of the goalkeeper, saw Debono turn his attempt into a corner.
However, four minutes from time, Żabbar scored the third goal. Substitute Miguel Azzopardi provided the assist from the left and another substitute, Martim Ferreira, slotted the ball past goalkeeper Debono.
