BOV Premier League | Gżira United 4– Lija Athletic 0

Lija ended up in ten men after just six minutes as Patrick Borg was sent off after being shown his second yellow card in the space of two minutes.

The Maroons tried to take an immediate advantage of the situation when Andrew Cohen fired a shot that ended up slightly wide.

The newly promoted side hit back on the 17th minute. Bello Osagie saw his close range shot being saved by Anthony Curmi.

Ten minutes later, Osagie had another attempt on goal but his shot sailed off target.

On the 42nd minute, Emmanuel Okoya of Gżira sent a shot that found Luke Bonnici on the alert.

Gżira managed to break the deadlock in the additional time given by the referee prior to half time. Karl Pulo’s cross found substitute Amadou Samb who headed past Bonnici.

Darren Abdilla’s side started the second half aggressively and were close on the 48th minute. Samb delivered a cross towards Okoya whose header ended up marginally over.

Samb was a protagonist again on the 74th minute when his header was cleared off the line.

Gżira increased their advantage on the 75th minute. Following a corner, the ball fell for Andre White and the latter fired a low shot that went behind Lija’s shot stopper.

The Maroons sealed the issue two minutes later. Roderick Briffa served Samba Tounkara and the striker hit a powerful shot that ended up inside the net.

Samb scored Gżira’s fourth goal on the 80th minute. The Senegalese footballer sent a shot that gave Bonnici no chance.

Gżira United starting line-up: Anthony Curmi, Andre White, Clifford Gatt Baldacchino, Gary Muir, Karl Pulo, Zachary Scerri, Juan Carlos Corbalan (Amadou Samb - 44) , Andrew Cohen, Moises Avila Perez, Samba Tounkara (Luca Brincat – 78), Emmanuel Okoye (Roderick Briffa – 68)

Lija Athletic starting line-up: Luke Bonnici, Leon Muscat, Patrick Borg, Clinch McAllister (Aidan Galea – 83), Daniel Scerri, Antoine Borg, Leejoe Schembri (Predrag Babic – 15), Djamel Leeflang, Marcelo De Souza, Bello Osagie Abubakar, Erjon Beu (Carl Cassar- 46)

Referee: Matthew Degabriele

Assistant Referees: Theodore Zammit, Dusan Petrovic

Fourth Official: Fyodor Zammit

BOV Player of the Match: Amadou Samb (Gżira)