Last-gasp penalty lands vital win for Valletta

Valletta 1
Birkirkara 0

A penalty netted deep into added time landed Valletta a precious win over arch rivals Birkirkara to pile the pressure on Stripes coach Stephen Azzopardi.

The match seemed heading for a stalemate as both sides failed to break the deadlock despite creating a welter of chances that could have easily yielded a goal.

Prolific striker Sebastian Mone-sterolo was closely guarded during the match and was hardly of any menace throughout the encounter.

However, in the 91st minute the Argentine masterminded his opponents' downfall with a darting acceleration in the area that won Valletta a penalty and the winning goal that lifted them to third place.

Intense rivalry was evident when the two sides took to the pitch for their last commitment of the first round yesterday at Ta' Qali.

In the last decade, the two sides were the protagonists of some keen encounters including the epic league match in May 1998 when Valletta came from a goal down to clinch the championship crown in front of a full house.

Since then, the Citizens have fallen on some hard times and have parted company with practically all their stars bar the faithful Gilbert Agius who once again led the team onto the pitch.

Despite this slump in results for Valletta, yesterday's match still managed to attract a decent crowd to the stadium, a clear signal that the rivalry has not abated but was simply dormant for a few seasons.

Champions Birkirkara are still struggling to leave their mark this season. A number of long term injuries have seriously hampered coach Azzopardi's choices. Yesterday, the Stripes paraded their latest signing, Dario La Rossa in attack.

The Argentine striker was partnering Matthew Calascione and Etienne Barbara in a three-pronged attack.

La Rossa had a rather quiet outing and will need more competitive action before his true potential can be gauged.

Polish goalkeeper Andrej Bledz-ewski was given the nod to guard the Stripes goal ahead of Sean Sullivan who was thus deprived of playing against his former team for the first time.

On their part, Valletta missed the services of the injured Kurt Magro whereas Steven Bezzina was only named as a substitute and featured in the last quarter of the encounter.

The match had an explosive start and hinted that emotions and drama were going to be readily supplied by both sides. After only three minutes, young Ian Zammit broke free on the right flank and blasted a powerful shot that was punched away by Bledzewski.

Four minutes later it was the Stripes fans to spring to their feet in anticipation as Barbara took his chance well with a projecting shot from outside the area which Darmanin only managed to get a slight touch of the ball before the effort thumped against the crossbar.

For the rest of the half there were few goalscoring opportunities as both sets of defences seemed to gain the upperhand on their opposing forwards.

Three minutes into the second half, Jonathan Holland executed a brilliant free-kick from outside the area which Darmanin managed to palm over.

Two minutes later, the Stripes were pounding the Valletta fort again as Calascione chipped a cross in and Barbara failed in his attempt to backheel the ball, allowing the Citizens to clear the ball to safety.

Valletta managed to weather this early storm and midway through the second half they nearly stunned their opponents.

Zammit was quick to flick a free-kick towards Agius who took his chance with precision as his shot filtered past a maze of legs and Bledzewski had to make a frantic dive to his right to parry the effort.

Nine minutes from time, substitute Clint Micallef could have given the Stripes the lead as his shot from the distance was palmed away by Darmanin.

With the fourth official signalling five minutes of added time, Valletta were awarded a penalty when Kenneth Scicluna floored the surging Monesterolo in the area.

The league's top marksman sent Bledzewski the wrong way as he buried the penalty into the net to send the ardent Valletta fans into raptures.

It was all too late for the Stripes to stage a comeback and the champions will be hoping for a change in fortunes when they tackle the second round in a bid to bridge the gap with the leading teams.

Valletta: S. Darmanin-7.5, J. Bondin-6.5, M. Grima-7, B. Nisevic-6.5, R. Forace-7, I. Zammit-6.5 ('90 K. Fenech), U. Edafe-6 ('88 J. Grioli), D. Camilleri-6.5, D. Falzon-6.5 ('79 S. Bezzina), S. Monesterolo-6.5, G. Agius-7.

Birkirkara: A. Bledzewski-6.5, M.A. Bonnici-6.5, R. Sammut-7, W. Camenzuli-6.5 ('51 L. Galea-6.5), M. Calascione-6.5, E. Barbara-7, J. Holland-6.5 ('57 C. Micallef-6), D. La Rossa-6, K. Scicluna-7, G. Mallia-7, G. Gallovich-6.5 ('85 P. Borg).

Referee: P. Caruana

Scorer: Monesterolo 90 pen.

Yellow cards: Camenzuli, Edafe, Calascione, Falzon, Scicluna, Monesterolo.

BOV Player of the match: Etienne Barbara (Birkirkara)