Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/791658
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2017 51 Sport FOOTBALL Floriana's dream of playing in Europe lives on Floriana ....................... 2 Pembroke .................... 0 WARREN ZAMMIT FLORIANA registered a 2-0 win against bottom side Pembroke as their European dream con- tinues. Floriana took the lead on the 10th minute. Enzo Ruiz served Ignacio Varela and the latter hit a shot that gave Matthew Calleja Cremona no chance. Giovanni Tedesco's side nearly doubled the score on the 67th minute. From a corner, Steve Pisani delivered the ball towards Sebastian Nayar whose effort hit the post. However, Floriana made it 2-0 on the 76th minute. Following a free kick, Steve Pisani sent a cross in the direction of Enzo Ruiz who headed past Calleja Cremona. Pembroke's chances of a re- sult took another setback on the 84th minute when Owen Bugeja was sent off after receiving his second yellow card. Floriana starting line-up: Mat- thew Grech, Andre Scicluna, Antonio Monticelli, Enzo Ruiz, Clyde Borg, Ignacio Varela, Se- bastian Nayar, Maurizio Vella, Jurgen Pisani, Nicolas Chiesa, Mario Fontanella. Pembroke starting line-up: Mat- thew Calleja Cremona, Panagio- tis Giannopoulos, Raphael Kooh Sohna, Owen Bugeja, Daniane Jawad, Adrian Borg, Paltemio Barbetti, Iraklis Roppas, Go Nagaoka, Tonci Radovnikovic, Brooke Farrugia. Referee: Etienne Mangion Assistant Referees: Alan Camill- eri, Christopher Francalanza Fourth Official: Alan Mario Sant Gzira defeat Tarxien to earn three precious points Gzira Utd ....................... 1 Tarxien Rainbows .......... 0 GŻIRA earned three precious points after registering a 1-0 win against Tarxien Rainbows. The Maroons created the first opportunity on goal after 23 min- utes. From a free kick, Andrew Cohen sent a cross towards Sou- leymane Diamoutene who headed over. Tarxien responded immediately when Triston Caruana served Alex Nillson and the latter headed slightly high. In the second half, neither team produced anything spectacular with the majority of possession be- ing shared. The Rainbows took a setback on the 78th minute when Alex Da Paixao Alves was sent off by Fyo- dor Zammit. Darren Abdilla's side made the most of having an extra man and scored the winning goal on the 83rd minute. From a corner, Co- hen delivered the ball towards Moises Avila Perez who slotted the ball inside the net. Gżira United starting line-up: Jurgen Borg, Jacob Borg, Clifford Gatt Baldacchino, Souleymane Diamoutene, Ian Azzopardi, Juan Carlos Corbalan, Louis Rene Zome, Moises Avila Perez, Zachary Scerri, Andrew Cohen, Gianmarco Conti Tarxien Rainbows starting line- up: Andrea Cassar, Ebiabowei Baker, Emerson Marcelina, Triston Caruana, Daniel Ponce de Leon Garcia, Alex Nilsson, Ayrton Azzo- pardi, Sacha Borg, Daniel Zerafa, Alex da Paixao Alves, Kurt Zam- mit Referee: Fyodor Zammit Assistant Referees: Jurgen Spiteri, Sammy Attard Fourth Official: Stefan Pace BOV Player of the Match: Andrew Cohen (Gżira United) Chelsea go 11 points clear CHELSEA stretched their Pre- mier League lead to 11 points thanks to a 2-1 home victory over Swansea. Pedro struck the 72nd-minute winner as the Blues – the only side in the top six in action on Satur- day – widened the gap to second- placed Manchester City. Lukasz Fabianski's error al- lowed Pedro's shot to make it into the net. Cesc Fabregas had put the hosts ahead before Fernando Llorente equalised just before half time. Premier League champions Leicester dropped into the relega- tion zone after victory for Crystal Palace against Middlesbrough. The Foxes play their first match since the dismissal of Claudio Ra- nieri against Liverpool on Mon- day and will do so in the bottom three. Sam Allardyce has had a miser- able start to life at Selhurst Park but a 34th-minute goal from Jan- uary signing Patrick van Aanholt earned Palace a crucial 1-0 victory over Boro. Hull could also have leapfrogged Leicester and looked set to do so when Tom Huddlestone convert- ed a 72nd-minute penalty against Burnley. But Michael Keane, whose hand- ball gave away the spot-kick, made amends by making it 1-1 just four minutes later to earn Burnley on- ly their second away point of the season. Clarets striker Ashley Barnes was sent off late on for a second yellow card but Hull could not take advantage. It was an unhappy return to Everton for David Moyes, with a 2-0 defeat for bottom side Sun- derland increasing their relega- tion worries. Midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye scored his first goal for Everton in the 40th minute and Romelu Lu- kaku's 18th of the season made the points safe 10 minutes from time. The result extended Everton's unbeaten league run to nine games and lifted them to within four points of sixth-placed Man- chester United. West Brom came from behind to defeat Bournemouth 2-1. A foul on Ryan Fraser allowed Josh King to score from the pen- alty spot inside five minutes but Craig Dawson's deflected effort quickly drew the Baggies level and Gareth McAuley profited from Artur Boruc's error to net what proved to be the winner in the 22nd minute. Bournemouth have taken just one point from their last six games and are only five points clear of the relegation zone. In the evening game, mid-table pair Watford and West Ham drew 1-1. Troy Deeney gave Watford an early lead from the penalty spot, but the Hammers were much improved after the break and grabbed a deserved equal- iser when Andre Ayew sidefooted home from close range after Mi- chail Antonio's shot had hit both posts. The game was marred by what looks like a serious knee injury for Watford's former West Ham player Mauro Zarate just before half-time.