10-man Greens battle into last eight

Floriana 1
Draganov 112;
Mosta 0
(after extra-time)

Floriana needed extra-time to break down the resistance of a stubborn Mosta side and book a place in the quarter-finals at the end of a dramatic tie yesterday.

Buoyed by their recent impressive performances in the Premier League, the Greens were tipped as heavy favourites to see off their Division One rivals. However, the Blues put up a stirring fight to their more illustrious opponents who had to play for almost an hour with ten men following the dismissal of Daniel Nwoke.

The Greens grabbed the all-important goal in extra-time but Mosta could have forced a shoot-out when they were awarded a last-gasp penalty only for Lofti Saidi to produce a brilliant save to deny Kane Farrugia and put his team in the last eight.

Floriana coach Todor Raykov deployed a strong formation with the only major absentee being striker Ivan Woods. Christian Cassar and Kiril Dzhorov were also sidelined and new signing Thomas Paris started on the bench.

Mosta coach Oliver Spiteri had to do without Mark Briggs while Simon Shead, Gilbert Martin and Mark Brincat were all named among the substitutes.

As expected, it was Floriana who made the early running and inside the opening six minutes they twice came close to taking the lead when Nwoke’s angled drive flashed past the upright and a minute later Christian Caruana’s shot was pushed away by Jonathan Debono, the Mosta goalkeeper.

On 22 minutes, the Greens threatened again when Manolito Micallef’s cross found Tyrone Farrugia who headed just wide from close in.

Gradually, Mosta starting growing in stature but just past the hour, Floriana were agonisingly close to an opener again. Nwoke broke free in the box and his shot had the better of Debono but Nikola Bogdanovic was on the right spot to avert danger.

Mosta were a revitalised lot after the break and on 51 minutes William Camenzuli’s piledriver was half-parried by Saidi and from the rebound Firas Aboulezz fired over.

Floriana suffered a blow right on the hour mark when they were reduced to ten men after Nwoke was shown a straight red card for pushing Camenzuli, a decision that incensed the Greens’ bench.

Spiteri sensed that his team could create an upset. So, he sent on Martin for the tired Ryan Deguara as he looked to add more speed to his team’s attacking manoeuvres.

On 71 minutes, Camenzuli almost surprised Saidi from a free-kick but the keeper did well to recover and push the ball away to a corner.

Eleven minutes from time, Osubu embarked on a mazy run that took him past two Floriana defenders before he slipped the ball towards Martin who fired inside the side-netting.

Martin again sprinted through the Floriana defence and lost his balance under the challenge of Micallef but the referee was not impressed and booked the Mosta substitute for simulation.

Deep into stoppage time, Mosta almost snatched it when Lee Grima picked Martin who turned past his marker but fired over with only Saidi to beat.

With the two teams locked at 0-0, another 30 minutes were needed to determine a winner. However, extra-time was mostly devoid of scoring chances with Mosta going close first when Osobu failed to connect to Martin’s ball from routine distance.

Penalties looked in the offing but eight minutes from the final whistle Floriana struck the winner.

Doffo’s short corner found Cassar who quickly delivered an inviting cross in the area where Draganov was at hand to stab home.

There was more drama in store though as a minute from time Mosta were awarded a penalty when Martin was floored in the box by Saidi. Kane Farrugia stepped up for the spot-kick but his shot was stopped by the well-positioned Greens keeper.

Floriana
L. Saidi, B. Said, M. Micallef, D. Pisani, T. Farrugia, P. Doffo, C. Caruana, J. Borg (73 T. Paris), S. Borg (65 M.G. Fernandes, 120 O. Bugeja), D. Draganov, D. Nwoke.

Mosta
J. Debono, A. Firas (‘97 S. Shead), A. Borg, K. Farrugia, V. Osobu, L. Grima, A. Cini, N. Bogdanovic, B. Agius, R. Deguara (69 G. Martin), W. Camenzuli.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Yellow cards: Deguara, K. Farrugia, Cini, Martin, Firas, Agius, Saidi.

Red card: Nwoke (F) 60.

Missed penalty: Farrugia (M) 119.