Samb’s debut double sinks ten-man Lija
This was always an uphill struggle for newcomers Lija Athletic as they fell victims to a more experienced Gzira United side in the opening day of the 2017/2018 season, when playing with a man down, after having their defender Patrick Borg sent off within the first six minutes.
Gzira struggled to make their superiority count in the opening 45 minutes and could only open the scoring on the stroke of halftime. But the Maroons were more impressive in attack in the second half as they outmuscled and outplayed their tiring opponents. Three late goals in the last quarter hour ensured their first win of the season.
Lija held on until going behind but could provide no end of bother to Gzira keeper Curmi in the second period as they found themselves pegged back and finally ran out of steam.
After winning promotion as Division 1 champions last season, Lija Athletic have made additions in a bid to strengthen their squad upon their return to the Premier League.
Brazilian Marcelo Dias de Souza and Dutch familiar face Djamel Leeflang were among the new recruits in Lija’s starting line-up yesterday. Their other foreigners were Albanian Erjon Beu and Nigerian Abubaker Bello-Osagie, whom they retained from last season.
Gzira, who had a positive previous season under coach Darren Abdilla, also made new signings, with Senegalese striker Samba Tounkara, Nigerian U/23 international Ndubisi Okoye, defender Gary Muir and Amadou Samb, all playing a part yesterday. Their most notable recruit, the former Valletta international Roderick Briffa, went in as a second half substitute, as other newcomers Nikolai Muscat, Luca Brincat and Chris Sammut sat on the bench.
Tounkara scored for Gzira upon his debut. Samb struck twice and Okoye will look back at the chances he had in this game and wonder how he failed to get on to the scoresheet.
But for all the new signings on show, the match produced a characteristically ineffective start.
The first noteworthy episode brought the season’s first sending off. Lija’s captain and central defender Patrick Borg was booked after hardly three minutes play and three minutes later he was dismissed for collecting another yellow card after committing his second bookable offence.
That sending off might have interrupted Lija’s initial plans. Coach Joseph Galea pulled off forward Lee Schembri and introduced Predrag Babic in defence.
Gzira , inexorably, began to control the pace and dominating possession but Lija keeper Luke Bonnici was not exactly overworked.
The Maroons spent much of the time shifting the ball rather pointlessly.
Muir’s run down the right after 12 minutes, presented Okoye with an inviting cross but the Nigerian shot wide.
Ten-man Lija were increasingly reliant on the pace and power of Bello Osagie to create any kind of opening.
He proved menacing on 18 minutes with his shot from the edge of the Gzira area which keeper Curmi tipped over the bar into a corner. Osagie’s powerful shot from the left flashed across the Gzira goal towards the half hour.
But when Gzira looked struggling to exploit their numerical superiority, with Lija staying composed and organised, substitute Amadou Samb, who had gone in only two minutes earlier for Corbolan, rose high to head in Pulo’s cross from the left, to give the Maroons the lead deep into two minutes of the half’s added time.
In the second half Gzira were finding it more easy making inroads down the flanks. On a Samb cross from the right, Okoye headed slightly over. Then a Cohen grounder was held out by keeper Bonnici with some difficulty. Gzira started to put more faith in crossing and Lija looked likely to wilt under the pressure and heat.
That happened on 75 minutes. Samb’s goalbound header, on yet another Muir cross from the right, was blocked on the line by Lija defender Cassar. From the ensuing Cohen corner, keeper Bonnici fisted out the ball that fell to Andre White to hit in with a low strike.
Gzira increased their lead two minutes later. Substitute Briffa lobbed the ball forward for Samba Tounkara to chest, outplay the onrushing keeper and steer the ball in.
And with ten minutes remaining, Lija collapsed to concede the fourth, Amadou Samb again being the scorer, after allowed time and space to chest the ball inside the Lija area before hitting low past the hapless keeper Bonnici.