Samb strikes keep Gzira firmly in third place

Two Samb strikes – one of them a penalty – gave Gzira all the three points against a resilient Naxxar side who had to play for about 70 minutes with a man fewer.

The Lions needed points badly from this match in their quest to avoid relegation, but two somewhat harsh decisions brought about their downfall.

In the first incident, Daren Falzon was deemed to have elbowed a Gzira defender, perhaps unintentionally. He was shown a red card leaving his team playing in 10 men. Soon after, Gzira took the lead through a disputed penalty, but from then onwards, it was always an uphill task for the 10man Lions.

Gzira showed superiority in the first half, albeit after those two refereeing decisions in their favour.

They dominated midfield play, but Naxxar defended stubbornly and managed to keep in touch.

Playing in numerical inferiority, Naxxar rarely, if ever, threatened the Gzira goal where Anthony Curmi had a relatively easy 45 minutes.

In the second half, despite having a man less, Naxxar were bold enough to take the game to their opponents and created at least two good scoring opportunities.

But having failed to make the most of these chances, they finally had to bow their heads to the Maroons who re-took control of midfield to score a second goal which gave them their three-point assurance.

With the wind blowing behind their backs, Gzira took the initiative and on the 5th minute, a dangerous low cross from Okoye was cleared with difficulty by a Naxxar defender before Samb could conclude.

The match quickly became an uphill task for the Lions as in the 13th minute, they ended up in 10 men when Daren Falzon was deemed to have elbowed a Gzira defender and the official was prompt to show him a red card.

In the 18th minute it was Souza Duarte who cleared to corner from over the line a Samb effort, but from the resultant cornerkick, Mr Degabriele noted an infringement in front of the Naxxar goal and showed no hesitation in awarding Gzira a penalty from which Amadou Samb made no mistake to give the Maroons the lead.

Before the penalty kick was taken, the referee also showed a red card to Naxxar reserve goalie Omar Borg who must have passed some remarks to the 4th official, Mr Utulu.

In the 41st minute, Gzira went close to adding a second goal when following a Cohen good cross, the ball was cleared out to Ndubisi Okoye, whose effort missed the target by a few centimetres.

Soon after the start of the second half, Gzira threatened through a Garba cross-shot which passed across goal, but found no takers in front of goal.

Naxxar almost equalised in the 63rd minute. It had to be a fine save from Curmi off a Duane Bonnici shot after a fine solo incursion into the Gzira area by the latter that kept their minimal lead safe.

In the 67th minute, Curmi was again called into action, this time saving an angled shot from Bustos.

Gzira assured themselves of the three points on the 71st minute. Cohen beautifully set Roderick Briffa on the right and the latter’s cross found Samb well placed to head home past a helpless Polli Gomes.

Naxxar retaliated briefly as Messias had a fine effort just missing the target on 76 minutes.

In the 90th minute, Man of the Match Andrew Cohen set substitute Juan Corbolan in the Naxxar area, but his shot went just wide.