Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/914278
maltatoday SUNDAY 10 DECEMBER 2017 Sports 52 FOOTBALL Floriana destroy Lija Athletic Senglea return to winning ways Floriana .................... 6 Lija Athletic .............. 0 WARREN ZAMMIT FLORIANA went ahead on the 59th minute. Following a de- livery by Juninho Cabral, Ous- mane Sidibe committed an own goal in his attempts to clear the ball to safety. Four minutes later, Floriana increased the margin of the score. Maurizio Vella's cross from a corner was met by Steve Pisani whose header went past Luke Bonnici. The greens scored again on the 66th minute. Mario Fon- tanella served Cabral and the latter finished home from close range. Floriana sealed the issue on the 77th minute. Following a chaos inside Lija's penalty area, the ball fell for Ignacio Varela and the Argentine hit a diago- nal shot that ended up inside the net. Lija went from bad to worse on the 82nd minute when Sidibe was sent off fol- lowing a foul on Varela. From the resulting free-kick, Floriana scored again. Fonta- nella's low shot went past Bon- nici once more. The Italian forward made it 6-0 on the 86th minute. Leight- on Grech delivered a cross to- wards Fontanella who saw his close range shot going inside the net. Floriana starting line-up: Ini Etim Akpan, Clyde Borg, Alex Cini, Emerson Marcel- lina, Mario Fontanella, Dylan Grima, Juninho Cabral, Steve Pisani, Enzo Ruiz, Ignacio Var- ela, Maurizio Vella Lija Athletic starting line- up: Luke Bonnici, Carl Cassar, Clinch McAllister, Rafael Kooh Sohna, Djamel Leef lang, Aaron Sammut, Daniel Scerri, Ous- mane Sidibe, Predrag Babic, Erjon Beu, Leon Muscat Referee: Stefan Pace Assistant Referees: Thomas Debono, Peter Abela Fourth Of ficial: Etienne Man- gion BOV Player of the Match: Maurizio Vella (Floriana) Senglea Athletic .................... 2 Naxxar Lions ......................... 1 WARREN ZAMMIT SENGLEA went ahead after eleven minutes. Peter Sammut hit a powerful drive that gave Omar Borg no chance. Nicola Palmieri made it 2-0 for Senglea on the 22nd minute. From a free-kick, Gonzalo Virano sent a cross that went in the direc- tion of the Italian who headed the ball inside the net. Naxxar pulled one back on the 65th min- ute. Yuri De Jesus Messias fired a stunning shot from a free-kick that went past Mat- thew Farrugia. Senglea Athletic starting line-up: Matthew Farrugia, Randall Vella, Jonathan Bondin, Gonzalo Leyton, Sergio Osagho Uyi, Matias Garcia, Hubert Vella, Gonzalo Virano, Nico- la Palmieri, Peter Sammut, Terrence Vella Naxxar Lions starting line-up: Omar Borg, Scott Fenwick, Ryan Grech, Manolito Mi- callef, Daren Falzon, Duane Bonnici, Adri- an Cascaval, Ryan Gilmour Cassar, Ouzin Ndoye, Yuri De Jesus Messias, Angus Buha- giar Referee: Jude Amin Utulu Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Cristo- pher Francalanza Fourth Official: Alan Mario Sant BOV Player of the Match: Yuri De Jesus Messias (Naxxar) Floriana made up for their shock elimination from the FA Trophy with a 6-0 win over Lija Athletic. Senglea returned to winning ways with a 2-1 win over Naxxar Lions PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINE BORG PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINE BORG