Wasteful Gzira pay penalty
Gzira United played with some energy, if no real precision, and looked good enough to beat Senglea Athletic, a team struggling to raise their levels after three consecutive defeats and no win in four matches.
Gzira, playing impressively without putting on a show, were leading to an Okoye goal until one minute from the end, when they succumbed to a late penalty and had to settle for a draw.
Senglea had come into the match with the intention of keeping men behind the ball in an attempt to make life more difficult for their opponents. That plan worked. They managed to clinch a point thanks to a last-minute penalty by Terence Vella and deny their opponents a win.
Gzira were profligate. After taking the lead early in the second half, they missed chances and even contrived to miss a penalty through Samb.
Finally they paid for their lack of ruthlessness.
Following their first league defeat against Balzan the previous week, Gzira coach Darren Abdilla replaced Anthony Curmi with Justin Haber in goal and was forced to leave out the suspended central defender Souleyman Diamoutene, giving the nod to Sem Kamana instead.
Senglea were depleted as injuries and suspensions deprived them of various key players. Coach Steve D’Amato was forced to make no less than five changes yesterday, as Palmieri, Caseres and Steve Bonnici were not fully fit and Ivan Paz was serving the first of a three-match ban. Miguel Escobar played as central striker with Julian Leyton and Terence Vella wide on the flanks. Garzia and Virano were in charge of proceedings in midfield.
But Gzira’s three-pronged attack, with Ndubisi Okoye, Amadou Samb and Juan Corbolan, was always designed to give the Senglea reargaurd a tough time, although Sergio Uyi and Terracciano looked solid at the back.
Gzira first tested Senglea keeper Cetrangolo with a Samb firm header after eight minutes and midway through the half, from a Senglea clearance, Briffa’s rising shot from outside the area was smartly saved by the Italian shot-stopper.
Cetrangolo was again called to repel Borg’s powerful drive from the left as the Maroons dominated first-half territory, but hardly made it count and the match was still goalless at halftime, even because Senglea offered little in the way of a threat on Haber’s goal.
That changed within four minutes of the second half. Samb lobbed the ball inside the Senglea area from the right and Ndubisi Okoye was quick to head in at the far post to give Gzira the lead.
The Maroons were intent to test Senglea’s main area of vulnerability, even because D’Amato’s side was unable to summon any kind of proper response, but wasted several opportunities in the process with Avila Perez and Samb failing to find the target from promising positions. Samb himself missed a penalty on 69 minutes, when felled by Randal Vella inside the area, but keeper Cetrangolo dived well to save the Nigerian’s spot kick.
Senglea’s Virano was forced off after being on the receiving end of a hard tackle on 76 minutes.
Senglea kept absorbing the pressure quite comfortably though. Their keeper was forced into another sharp save seven minutes from the end, holding out Corbolan’s drive on an Avila Perez through pass.
The match took a twist in the final minutes. An Escobar free kick for Senglea was held out by keeper Haber and in the process, Terracciano was felled by Gatt Baldacchino inside area to win a penalty which Terence Vella duly converted to earn Senglea a point that looked almost beyond them. Gzira Valletta Balzan Floriana Sliema Hibernians Hamrun Mosta Birkirkara Senglea A. Tarxien Naxxar Lions St. Andrews Lija Athletic P W D 9 6 2 8 6 1 8 4 3 8 3 5 8 4 2 8 4 2 8 4 1 8 3 1 8 3 1 9 2 3 8 2 1 8 1 3 8 2 0 8 0 1 L F APts 1 21 9 20 1 17 4 19 1 13 9 15 0 16 6 14 2 14 6 14 2 13 6 14 3 14 11 13 4 11 15 10 4 8 12 10 4 9 12 9 5 8 23 7 4 9 15 6 6 8 19 6 7 9 23 1