Brave City ousted on away goals

Ruch Chorzow 0
Valletta 0
(agg: 1-1 - Ruch through on away goals)

Valletta were left to rue giving away a soft goal and missing a couple of sitters in the home match against Ruch Chorzow last night as the battling Citizens were eliminated from the Europa League second qualifying round on away goals.

Polish outfit Ruch Chorzow did most of the running in an almost fully-packed stadium yesterday and created enough openings to score in the first half but Valletta lifted their game by several notches after the break and could have snatched a last-gasp winner only for stand-in keeper Matko Perdijic to deny Gilbert Agius with a superb save in stoppage time.

Valletta's elimination meant that Maltese interest in UEFA club competitions this summer is over.

On Wednesday, Birkirkara were ousted from the Champions League by Slovakia's MSK Zilina (1-3 aggregate) and earlier this month Sliema Wanderers lost to Croatia's Sibenik (0-3 aggregate).

Valletta coach Jesmond Zerafa, with only four outfield players at his disposal on the bench, handed striker Terrence Scerri and midfielders Jamie Pace and Kevin Sammut a berth in the starting formation. Ian Zammit was among the substitutes along with Dyson Falzon, Steve Bezzina and Kurt Magro.

Clearly, Zerafa's plan was to mass his players in midfield to try and limit Chorzow's supply to their men up front.

A scoreless draw would have been enough for the Poles to secure a berth in the next round and a match against Austria Vienna. However, Waldemar Fornalik's team still ventured forward, looking to score an early goal to kill the Citizens' hopes.

They saw more of the ball in those opening stages but Gabor Straka and Michal Pulkowski blasted their efforts wide of goal as Valletta, with Roderick Briffa a source of inspiration, calmly weathered the storm.

Midway through the half, Scerri won a free-kick but Denni's shot from the distance never troubled keeper Perdijic.

Agius also tried his luck from two free-kicks, either side of a Sebastian Olszar scorcher that flew way off target, but with scant reward for the captain.

The hosts were growing increasingly frustrated not to have found a way through a disciplined Valletta defence. Pulkowski twice failed to beat Andrew Hogg from ideal scoring positions and Straka found the alert City keeper in his way to deny Chorzow the lead before half-time.

The second half started with Chorzow again in attack but Valletta delivered a clear signal that they were not going to lie back when Scerri found space on 56 minutes from a Sammut corner but his effort rolled wide.

Zerafa opted to send in Falzon for Sammut on 64 minutes and Valletta grew more in stature even though they were dealt a blow soon after when reliable central defender Ramon cried out injured. He was replaced by Steve Bezzina.

As the minutes ticked by Chorzow started to feel the pressure. Zammit came in for Omonigho Temile with Zerafa adding more men in attack. Valletta were now in control but it was Hogg who came to their rescue with a timely intervention to stop Krysztof Nykiel's shot.

However, the best chance of the match fell to Agius on 92 minutes.

His shot seemed destined to reach the back of the net but Perdijic came from nowhere to turn the ball to a corner.

From the flag-kick, a goalmouth melee ensued but somehow Chorzow cleared the ball to safety much to the relief of the home fans.

Ruch Chorzow
M. Perdijic, W. Grzyb, K. Nykiel, S. Olszar (60 A. Piech), L. Janoszka (78 G. Bronowicki), R. Grodzicki, M. Pulkowski, A. Sobiech (90 M. Malinowski), M. Sadlok, G. Straka, A. Jukubowski.

Valletta
A. Hogg, J. Caruana, S. Borg, Ramon (71 Bezzina), G. Agius, R. Briffa, O. Temile (80 I. Zammit), J. Pace, Denni, K. Sammut (64 D. Falzon), T. Scerri.

Referee: Andrea de Marco (Italy).

Yellow cards: Straka; Denni.