Paolucci nets hat-trick as Tarxien advance

Michele Paolucci scored a grand hat-trick yesterday to lead his side into the quarterfinals following an easy 5-0 win against First Division side Zebbug Rangers.

Siraj Arab paved the way for Tarxien’s win and Jens Alexander Wemmer scored the other in the second half.

It was a deserved win for the Rainbows who, as was after all expected, were dominant for most of the match, forcing the Rangers on the defence for at least three quarters of the match.

In the first half, Tarxien dominated for long stretches and richly deserved their lead at the interval.

Zebbug did their best to offer stiff resistance and even operated some counter attacks, but these were few and far between and only on one occasion did they really go near to threatening the Tarxien posts.

In the second half, Zebbug started like a house on fire in an effort to get back into the game, but when they suffered a third goal, they threw in the towel and went on to suffer two more goals.

Tarxien went close to open the scoring on 6 minutes when Siraj Arab had a close range shot turned to corner in style by goalie Jurgen Borg, although the official ignored Tarxien’s protests for a corner.

On 18 minutes, from a Faria corner, it was Juan Cruz Gill who rose above friend and foe only to see his header going over. A minute later, however, Tarxien took the lead through Siraj Arab with a shot from close in following a good pass from De Barros.

In the 26th minute, Tarxien doubled their lead. Faria advanced on the left flank to cross low for Michele Paolucci to flick home past Jurgen Borg who managed to touch the ball but could not prevent it from entering into the net.

On the 30th minute, it was goalie Borg who denied the Rainbows a third goal as he blocked Paolucci’s effort, the latter having been set beautifully by Matthew Spiteri.

Moments later, Zebbug finally had their first shot on goal through Igor De Rocha Souza, but his good effort was ably turned to corner by Andrea Cassar.

In the 40th minute, it was again De Rocha Souza who tried his luck from outside the area, but the ball went wide.

Zebbug started the second half on attack and from a freekick, Hubert Vella saw his effort saved by Andrea Cassar.

The Rangers insisted and in the 53rd minute, from a Brandon Muscat cross, Andrea Curmi headed just wide.

On 59 minutes, Tarxien assured themselves of their qualification as Michele Paolucci scored his second and third goal for the Rainbows.

Two minutes later, it was 4-0 as Paolucci this time provided the assist for Jens Alexander Wemmer to find the net.

Paolucci claimed his hat-trick on 65 minutes when he headed the ball into the net following a cornerkick.

Nine minutes from the end, Tarxien ended in 10 men when Matthew Spiteri was dismissed following a second yellow card.

Photo: James Galea