Zebbug come from behind to grab precious points

Sirens 1 Zebbug R 2

Zebbug made a second half comeback even though playing with ten men to beat Sirens by the odd goal in three to gain three valuable points in their quest to avoid relegation. It was a bitter disappointment for Sirens who had the game in their hands with numerical superiority and a goal advantage, but fade out in the second half conceding two goals and also finishing with ten men in the dying stages.

The match had nothing to offer in the opening phase with the first attempt at goal coming on 22 minutes when Zebbug’s danger man Trebovac tried his luck from the edge of the area but his shot went wide.

Five minutes later on the other end Sirens went close with a Christian Caruana header from a Daniel Agius freekick going slightly over the bar. Sirens were more menacing upfront and on 37 minutes they took the lead when Robert Vaduva played a good ball towards the unmarked Christian Caruana who kept his cool in front of goal to easily beat Azzopardi with a low drive.

Two minutes later the same Caruana almost made it two with a close range header from a Lee Grech corner. Two minutes from the break Trebovac made his way on the left flank but his low shot was blocked by Vella.

On 54 minutes Zebbug were reduced to ten men when Shaun Borg was shown a straight red for dissent.

But on 58 minutes Zebbug drew level when Rafael Da Silva Gomes had an impressive run from the Zebbug defence before crossing to the centre of the area where Sirens’ Matthew Bartolo fired incredibly into his own net in an attempt to clear.

On 78 minutes Zebbug took a surprise lead when Trebovac’s freekick was partially saved by Vella and from the rebound substitute Demba Toure fired home with his first shot of the game. Two minutes from time Sirens were reduced to ten men when Caruana was sent off for dissent.

Sirens: J.M. Vella, M. Bartolo, D. Sant (C. Newuche), L. Gabrieli, L. Zammit, J.N. Azzopardi, C. McLaren (I. Curmi), L. Grech (M. Ciantar), D. Agius, C. Caruana, R. Vaduva

Żebbuġ R: J. Azzopardi, M. Borda, R. Attard (J.P. Formosa)(R. Bajada), S. Borg, A. Micallef, A. Curmi, T. Trebovac, R. Da Silva Gomes, M. Rodrigues Britto (D. Toure), C. Gauci, C. Psaila

Referee: Sandro Spiteri