Lija Athletic Defeat Hotspurs

Lija Athletic Defeat Hotspurs

Lija Athletic F.C. 2 – 0 Victoria Hotspurs F.C.

Ivan Zammit’s Lija Athletic are in recovery mode, beating Victoria Hotspurs 2-0 on Sunday morning at the Sirens Stadium to clinch their third consecutive victory after a dismal start of the campaign. The Lija side fully deserved the victory as they controlled proceedings and limited their opponents, who created very few clear-cut chances throughout the match. Man of the match was undoubtedly Ross McParland who scored two great second half goals. With this win, Lija leapfrogged the Gozitans in the ranking, although the Hotspurs have a game in hand.

In the goalless first half, Lija started on the front foot and in the eighth minute, had a goal by McParland disallowed for an offside position. A minute later, Victoria Hotspurs responded when Kurt Borg tested Lija goalkeeper Luke Bonnici with a shot that was safely dealt with. In the 23rd minute, Lija’s Colombian midfielder Juan Alejandro Luiz fired a long-range effort that went wide. Five minutes later, McParland was again involved, heading just off target for Lija. On the other end, Shaun Attard attempted a lob for Victoria Hotspurs on 36 minutes, but the effort sailed over the bar. Two minutes later, Kurt Borg broke into the box for the Hotspurs, though his shot went wide, while Dejan Vukovic also missing target in the 42nd minute.

Early in the second half, Lija’s Mead Mifsud came close from a dangerous free-kick, but Hotspurs goalkeeper Steve Sultana managed to keep the effort out. The breakthrough arrived in the 50th minute when Lija were awarded another free-kick, with Ross McParland finishing from close range to beat Sultana and make it 1–0. McParland continued to trouble the Gozitan defence and doubled Lija’s lead in the 69th minute following a quick counter-attack, once again finding the net past Sultana.

Omar Khatib tried his luck for Lija in the 71st minute with a shot from outside the area that went wide. McParland nearly completed his hat-trick on 80 minutes, but his shot drifted off target after another strong run. Barely a minute later, substitute Christian Mercieca fired wide following a cross from the left. In stoppage time, Lija substitute Isaac Bartolo had a chance to add a third goal, but Sultana denied the youngster with a great save.

Match Report by MFA Match Centre.