Pietà beat ten-man Xewkija to go through to quarter-finals of the FA Trophy

Pietà Hotspurs are through to the quarter finals of the FA Trophy after securing a 2-1 win over ten men Xewkija Tigers

Pieta` Hotspurs 2 - Xewkija Tigers 1
Pieta` Hotspurs 2 - Xewkija Tigers 1

Pietà Hotspurs made it to this round after beating Mqabba during the third round. On the other hand, Xewkija won against Mgarr.

The Hotspurs broke the deadlock on the 36th minute. Kilian Amehi drilled a low cross in the direction of Clyde Bouvet who slotted the ball inside the net.

Pietà doubled their advantage on the 42nd minute. Following a free-kick, the referee judged Rodney Buttigieg to have handled the ball inside the penalty area and whistled for a penalty. Daniel Portelli also showed a yellow card in the direction of Buttigieg. This decision brought harsh protests from the Gozitan side. However, Caetano Ze lucas kept his composure and converted.

Things went from bad to worse for Xewkija three minutes later as Buttigieg was shown another yellow card that was followed by a red card.

Xewkija reduced the gap on the hour mark. Jose Carlos Nogueira served Claudio Frances and the latter went past a defender before placing the ball past the opposing goalkeeper.

During the latter stages of the match, Xewkija profited from a commotion that took place inside the pitch and sneaked in Manuel Scerri. The officials didn’t notice and thus Xewkija finished the match with eleven players despite having a player sent off earlier in the game.

Pietà Hotspurs starting line-up: Miguel Chetcuti, Neil Pace Cocks, Dejan Vukovic, Clyde Bouvet (Clive Gauci-72), Christian Sammut, Caetano Ze lucas, Kilian Amehi, Quincy Bregman (Travis Bartolo-32), Liam McKay, Irmiya Jalo Ishaya, James Scicluna (Nicholas Pisani-75)

Xewkija Tigers starting line-up: Mark Grima (Leonard Camilleri-22), Manuel Tabone, Mario Vella (Johnny Camilleri-74), Jackson Siqueira, Claudio Antonio Pavlidis, Rodney Buttigieg, Jose Carlos Nogueira, Martin Hrubsa, Dylan Merciea, Milos Stojanovic, Claudio Frances

Referee: Daniel Portelli