Two tense Round of 16 encounters in the Jubilee Cup produced late drama and penalty shootouts on Wednesday evening, as Zebbug Rangers and Mosta both booked their places in the quarter-finals following hard-fought battles against Attard and Zurrieq, respectively.

Zebbug Rangers 2 Attard 2 (7–6 on penalties)

Attard, the only Amateur League 1 side to reach this stage of the competition, came agonisingly close to a famous upset against Zebbug Rangers, before ultimately bowing out on penalties after an entertaining 2–2 draw.

Attard began brightly and took a surprise lead after 15 minutes when a shot from Nicholas Schembri was deflected into his own net by Christian Grech. However, the Zebbug defender quickly redeemed himself, equalising just six minutes later at the other end following a swift counterattack.

The Rangers pushed for a second, with Matthew Falzon striking the post and Hugo Coelho dos Santos testing the Attard defence with two fine long-range efforts before the break.

Zebbug completed their comeback on 70 minutes through Dos Santos, who produced a fine individual effort to beat Ryan Caruana from a tight angle.

Just when Zebbug thought they had sealed the win, Precious Uchechukwu struck deep into stoppage time to level the score and force a penalty shootout.

In the end, Zebbug held their nerve from the spot, converting seven of their penalties to Attard’s six to secure their place in the quarter-finals.

Zurrieq 0 Mosta 0 (5–6 on penalties)

At the Victor Tedesco Stadium, Mosta also needed penalties to overcome a spirited Zurrieq side in another tightly contested tie that finished goalless after 90 minutes.

The match began evenly, with both teams showing composure and determination. Mosta suffered an early setback when goalkeeper Udoh Akpan was shown a straight red card after 18 minutes for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity on Jonathan Money. From the resulting free kick, De Barros went close but his effort flew just wide.

Zurrieq maintained pressure and nearly took the lead on 34 minutes when Sebastian Grech’s powerful shot was superbly saved by stand-in keeper Jayden Farrugia.

The second half was a cagey affair with few chances, though Mosta came closest to breaking the deadlock in stoppage time when Machado’s effort brushed the crossbar.

With neither side able to find a winner, the tie went to penalties. In a tense shootout, Mosta held their composure, edging Zurrieq 6–5 to progress to the Jubilee Cup quarter-finals.

Both Zebbug Rangers and Mosta now advance to the last eight of the competition, keeping their hopes alive of lifting this season’s Jubilee Cup, following a night of high drama, late goals, and nerve-shredding penalty finishes.