Camenzuli steers Birkirkara past Tarxien

BIRKIRKARA-1, TARXIEN RAINBOWS-0

Birkirkara kept the pace at the top of the Premier League with a hard-earned 1-0 win over Tarxien Rainbows.

Ryan Camenzuli struck the winner early in the second half as Birkirkara trimmed the gap on leaders Valletta to two points.

The game was preceded by a minute's silence in memory of Reginaldo Paixao, the brother of Tarxien Rainbows right-back Alex who was killed in Brazil last weekend.

The first half produced few scoring chances.

Birkirkara forward Liliu was wide with an angled volley while Tarxien's Ayrton Azzopardi caused anxiety in the Birkirkara box with a dangerous cross from a corner that was cleared by Vito Plut.

Azzopardi threatened again but his curling free-kick was wide.

Ryan Camenzuli, the Birkirkara winger, also sent in a dangerous cross-shot from a corner but Andrea Cassar fisted the ball over the bar.

A minute past the half-hour, Birkirkara strongly appealed for a penalty when Joseph Zerafa's cross from the left appeared to come off Bruno's arm but their protests were turned down by referee Trustin Farrugia Cann.

Birkirkara opened the scoring three minutes into the second half. Frank Temile, who had just replaced Emerson...