360Sports Malta Premier – Bottom 6
Tony Bezzina Stadium, Paola
Naxxar Lions………….1
Hibernians FC………..0
R. Cassar 34’ (pen)
Naxxar Lions bounced back from their recent loss to Żabbar St. Patrick with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Hibernians, courtesy of a first-half penalty by Ryan Gilmour Cassar.
The win propels Naxxar two points ahead of Balzan and three clear of Melita, although both those teams still have a game in hand as they face off on Sunday.
Despite Hibernians dominating large stretches of play and carving out multiple chances, Naxxar’s disciplined defensive display and timely interventions secured all three points.
Branko Nisevic made three changes to the side that beat Melita, reintroducing Hugo Sacco in goal, while Jurgen Degabriele and Miullen Carvalho started in place of Lucas Villela and Federico Falcone.
Naxxar, meanwhile, started with Cassar and Yamaguchi, with Bacary Sane and Edson Farias named among the substitutes.
The match started brightly with both sides testing each other early on. Yamaguchi had a promising strike from the edge of the area, while Correia nearly put through his own net as he tried to intercept a Fraga attempt, sending the ball just wide.
On 17 minutes, Hibernians nearly took the lead when Debono rushed off his line to stop Carvalho. Martinis latched onto the rebound and attempted a lob, only for Barbosa to clear off the line.
Xuereb then fired wide after a slick move involving Martinis and Kristensen, while Maicon forced a save from Sacco with a cross-shot on 27 minutes.
The breakthrough came in the 34th minute when Martinis handled Maicon’s cross inside the area. The referee pointed to the spot, and Cassar calmly converted the penalty to give Naxxar the lead.
Hibernians almost leveled just before the break when Degabriele pounced on a loose clearance but shot over from close range.
After the restart, Hibernians continued to press. Pedro Henrique headed narrowly wide from a Xuereb corner, and Fraga’s free-kick was saved by Debono. Degabriele also squandered two decent chances—first dragging his shot wide, then narrowly missing with a curling effort from distance.
Naxxar nearly doubled their lead on the counter in the 71st minute when Bolanos sprinted down the left and sent a diagonal shot inches past the far post.
Debono came up big again for the Lions, tipping over Degabriele’s low strike, and from the resulting corner, Henrique couldn’t keep his header down.
In the closing stages, Micallef played in Santos who blazed over, while Maicon’s long-range effort was easily gathered by Sacco.
In the end, Naxxar held firm to secure a vital win in their battle for mid-table positioning.
HIBERNIANS:
H. Sacco, K. Shaw, K. Fraga, M. Carvalho, J. Degabriele (78’ S. Hamanojda), B. Kristensen, D. Xuereb (78’ S. Sorokin), A. Bruno (63’ F. Falcone), A. Martinis (78’ M. Ellul), P. Silva, R. Bruno.
NAXXAR LIONS:
M. Debono, N. Micallef, T. Yamaguchi (63’ I. Yasukaze), N. Pace Cocks, E. Bolanos, R. Cassar, H. Santos (86’ B. Sane), H. Correia, Maicon (90’ J. Farrugia), F. Barbosa, J. Cardoso.
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann
