Gzira too strong for poor Pembroke

Football - BOV Premier League

Veteran Andrew Cohen as well as Italian midfielder Gianmarco Conti were the Maroon’s schemers and they continuously sprayed good passes to their strikers.

On their part, Pembroke appeared to be living in a completely different street.

They were forced to defend for long stretches and had goalie Calleja Cremona to thank for keeping them in contention with some good saves.

When Racic scored a goal to make it 2-1, one expected Pembroke to make a strong effort to save the match, but Gzira hit back strongly to kill all their hopes.

The Maroons started the match on attack and on the third minute, Conti had an effort from the edge of the area which went just over. Two minutes later, the same Conti had better luck as he put his side ahead, heading the ball home following a Cohen cornerkick.

Pembroke replied in the 8th minute with a Sohna shot which was blocked to a corner.

At the other end, it was Reyna who tested goalie Calleja Cremona who punched the ball away.

In a fast breakaway on the 13th minute, Conti set Reyna perfectly to advance unhindered only to see Calleja Cremona saving his somewhat central shot.

On the 19th minute, the score became 2-0 as Gzira were awarded a penalty when Scozzese upended Ige Adeshina in the area. From the spotkick, veteran Andrew Cohen made no mistake, sending the goalie the wrong way.

Reyna had another good opportunity to score on 34 minutes, but after receiving a perfect pass from Conti, he again saw his effort being brilliantly turned to corner by Calleja Cremona.

At the other end, Sohna received the ball on the edge of the area following a bad defensive clearance by Gzira, but he hit wide.

Just before the interval whistle, Barbetti went close for Pembroke with a freekick that went just wide.

At the start of the second half, Pembroke appealed in vain for a penalty when Racic appeared to have been pulled down in a confused action in the area. But the official, close to the action, waved play on.

In the 53rd minute, Reyna went round goalie Calleja Cremona, but his cross-shot was cleared into the empty goal was cleared from over the line by Scozzese.

In the 57th minute Cohen also missed a sitter as he skied the ball from a good position after a fine Gzira move.

Pembroke were back in contention in the 66th minute as they pulled one back. It was Racic who scored direct from a freekick with goalie Jurgen Borg helpless.

But their joy was shortlived as Gzira scored a third goal in the 70th minute. Cohen saw his freekick hitting the upright but there was Reyna to slam the ball into the empty net from close in.

And two minutes later, the same Reyna added a fourth goal to assure victory.

S Gzira continued to dominate, in the 75th minute, it was Corbalan who had a freekick just missing the post.

But it was 5-1 five minutes later. A Conti shot was partially saved by Calleja Cremona and Reyna was on hand to score easily and get his hat-trick.