Malta: Sliema back to winning ways

Sliema Wanderers FC beat Marsa FC 4-2 on Sunday to move within a point of leaders Hibernians FC at the top of the Maltese Premier League.

Grima the great
Having dropped five points in their last two outings, Sliema had to win and did so largely because of the contribution from under-21 international Massimo Grima. They took the lead in the 13th minute when Richard Buhagiar converted a Rupert Mangion cross. In the 29th minute Mangion made the second with a pass to Danilo Doncic and the Yugoslavian did the rest to double the advantage.

New signing
Visitors Marsa pulled one back before the break when new signing Minabo Asechimie was fouled inside the penalty area, and Nikolai Slavtchev made no mistake from the spot. Marsa then levelled just after half-time through Ridha Dardouri but Grima then took over for Sliema. He scored his side’s third on the hour and then made the fourth for Nigerian Chris Anoman.

Lija on the up
Elsewhere on Sunday, Lija Athletic FC continued their revival with a 3-2 home win over relegation strugglers Naxxar Lions FC. The visitors had taken the lead in the 14th minute through Daniel Bogdanovic.  Albanian Ilir Pelinku equalised for Lija just four minutes later and Glenn Barry then put the hosts in front after 26 minutes. Six minutes later Nicky Fasanelli made the scores level again with his fourth goal of the season for Naxxar. All the scoring came in the first half, with the decisive strike coming from Pelinku just before the break.