360Sports Malta Premier, National Stadium
Naxxar Lions……………1
Zabbar St Patrick……..1
Naxxar Lions continued their positive run in the 360Sports Malta Premier League Closing Round, securing a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Zabbar St. Patrick at the Victor Tedesco Stadium on Saturday. Despite being reduced to ten men, Naxxar managed to hold their opponents, earning their third consecutive positive result.
Although they remain at the bottom of the standings, Naxxar have now closed the gap on the teams above them. Meanwhile, Zabbar climbed to sixth place with the point gained from the encounter.
The Lions got off to a dream start, taking the lead just two minutes into the match through Edward Bolanos. However, the game took a dramatic turn in the 21st minute when Ito Yasukaze brought down Kristian Keqi inside the penalty area. The referee, Matthew De Gabriele, immediately pointed to the spot and sent off the Japanese midfielder. Zabbar had a golden opportunity to equalize, but Matthias Debono denied Brian Gambarte from the penalty spot with a crucial save.
Despite the numerical advantage, Zabbar struggled to break down Naxxar’s resilient defense. Their persistence eventually paid off in the 72nd minute when Strahinja Jovancic struck to restore parity and secure a point for his side.
While Naxxar will take pride in their battling performance, Zabbar will see this as a missed opportunity to take all three points against a team that played a large portion of the match with ten men.
