Lija Athletic Grab First Win Of The Season

Lija Athletic secured a 3-1 victory over Mtarfa to head into the international break with their first win of the season. Vanessa Honorio Carneiro’s opener was cancelled by Estelle Borg. However, Leanne Micallef nudged Lija back into the lead from the penalty spot, before Simone Buttigieg wrapped things up late in the match.

Team News

Mtarfa’s captain Dorienne Grech started in goal. Darya Attard returned to the heart of the defence alongside Rebecca Zammit, while Kerrie Ciappara and Corine Deguara occupied the full-back positions. Eliza Czik and Shania Spiteri continued their presence in midfield, joined by Slavina Aleksandrova Peneva. Laura Echeverri Tobon and Paula Ciappara provided the width to Estelle Borg in attack.

Meanwhile, Christiana Pisani continued her presence in goal for Lija Athletic, fronted by a familiar back-four of Rachel Mifsud, Amy Galea Gingell, Sarah Caruana and Mariah Schembri. Nell Zarb Cousin and Leanne Micallef continued to accompany captain Simone Buttigieg in midfield. Shakira Bugeja was pushed up into the left-wing position, while Katryna Grech retained her role on the right. Vanessa Honorio Carneiro spearheaded the attack.

Lija Open The Scoring

Lija Athletic enjoyed the early stint of possession and managed to create a dangerous attack in the opening few seconds as Leanne Micallef flashed a ball across the box finding Shakira Bugeja. However, her strike was blocked by Paula Ciappara before the Blues cleared.

Mtarfa grew into the game and Estelle Borg struck from distance after around ten minutes into the match, but Christiana Pisani was equal to it. Eliza Czik continued her good form and a quarter of an hour into the match managed to feed Borg another ball, who opened up the space and struck once more, but the shot lacked the power necessary to trouble Pisani. Defence turned quickly to attack as the goalkeeper launched long toward Leanne Micallef who won the tussle with Darya Attard before opening to Vanessa Honorio Carneiro. She struck toward the top left corner but Dorienne Grech got a hand on it at full stretch to keep the scores level.

The transitional game continued with Lija Athletic managing to counter a few minutes later following an Mtarfa dead-ball situation. Vanessa Honorio Carneiro released Katryna Grech, but Dorienne Grech rushed to close the angle and won the duel against the forward once more. A similar situation developed at the other end as Lija Athletic were unable to trouble the Blues from a free-kick, which instead set them on the back foot as Eliza Czik surged forward with the ball. However, Rachel Mifsud intercepted the pass to Laura Echeverri Tobon before setting her team off in the other direction. Honorio Carneiro found the net for the first time twenty minutes into the match, but saw it ruled out by the offside flag.

Lija Athletic came close once more five minutes later, as Honorio Carneiro released Leanne Micallef. She opened up her body to strike toward the bottom far corner, but was denied by the upright. Along the way, Jethron Azzopardi also opted to swap his wide forwards in attempt to shake up the attack. The team in red finally found their opening goal close to the half-hour mark as Honorio Carneiro fended off her marker and struck from distance to beat Grech who will be disappointed not to have kept it out despite getting a hand on the strike.

The Blues could not muster an immediate response, with Lija Athletic managing to keep control of the possession. However, despite keeping up their attacking intent and getting into good areas, the team in red could not extend their lead in the opening stint.

Half-Time Score: Mtarfa 0 – 1 Lija Athletic

Mtarfa Find The Equaliser

Lija Athletic attempted to pick up exactly where they left off, with Leanne Micallef testing Dorienne Grech in the early minutes. However, Mtarfa emerged from the break with a larger desire to challenge for the ball and ramped up the pace of play in transitions.

Rebecca Zammit fired the first warning shot in the 48th minute as she struck the crossbar with a looped ball from midfield. The Blues found the net four minutes later after Christiana Pisani failed to deal with a searching ball, which saw Shania Spiteri hit the post from the loose pickings, before Estelle Borg fired into the roof of the net to get her team level.

Lija Nudge Forward For The Second Time

Having lost their lead, Lija Athletic set off in search of another goal, but were largely kept at bay by the Blues. Jethron Azzopardi made a positive substitution bringing on Elisa Xuereb in replacement of Rachel Mifsud, which saw Xuereb occupy the forward wide role, pushing Shakira Bugeja into the right-back role.

A good opportunity was created close to the hour mark which saw a number of players involved in the buildup before Shakira Bugeja launched a cross into the box from the right wing. Honorio Carneiro knocked down the ball for Katryna Grech who also made the run into the box, but Kerrie Ciappara and Dorienne Grech combined to deny her the space to strike. Shortly after, Shakira Bugeja launched another ball from her own half for Honorio Carneiro to chase behind the defence, but Dorienne Grech swept the line.

Having been bright since coming on, Elisa Xuereb was deemed to have been fouled by Rebecca Zammit in the box, which prompted the referee to point to the spot. Leanne Micallef made no mistake, sending the ball into the right side of the net and her team back into the lead.

Simon Spiteri made the first change of the night shortly after, bringing on Angele Fenech in a straight swap with Kerrie Ciappara. The game continued to open up as Mtarfa chased the game once more, with both goalkeepers called into action. Eliza Czik released Estelle Borg on the chase in the 73rd minute but Christiana Pisani swept the line. A similar situation developed at the other end that saw Simone Buttigieg unleash Katryna Grech, who was beaten to the ball by Dorienne Grech.

Mtarfa’s Paula Ciappara also released a good ball into Estelle Borg, but the youngster’s effort to find space for a shot were thwarted by determined defending from Amy Galea Gingell. Both coaches opted for changes as the final ten minutes rolled on. Jethron Azzopardi brought on Daniela Camilleri in replacement of Katryna Grech, while Simon Spiteri called on the service of Shakira Falzon instead of Slavina Aleksandrova Peneva.

Buttigieg Wraps Up The Victory

Although reluctant to put too many numbers up the field, Lija Athletic called Dorienne Grech into action from a corner, who parried the ball away from her goal. Having needed medical treatment earlier in the match, Grech had to be taken off shortly after, prompting Maria Abdilla to take her place for the final minutes of the match.

The Blues won a free-kick in midfield in injury time and opted to send the team up in numbers in search of earning a point from the match, which led to the final goal of the night but at the other end. Lija’s Sarah Caruana headed away toward Leanne Micallef who swiftly transitioned forward. She released Vanessa Honorio Carneiro who was met by the rushing figure of the Mtarfa goalkeeper Maria Abdilla. Despite this, the striker managed to pick out her captain, Simone Buttigieg, who made the run into the box. She had the composure to open up the space and strike low into the bottom corner to seal the victory for her team.

Next Matches

The victory takes Lija Athletic level on points with San Gwann, while leaving Mtarfa empty-handed, as the teams head into the international break. Lija Athletic will return to the league commitments on the 4th of November when they welcome Swieqi United. Mtarfa will meet Hibernians on the same day.

Eyes now are firmly set on the international break which will see European sides continue their commitments in the UEFA Women’s Nations League.

Lead Image: Lija Athletic Women

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