Farrugia’s three-goal blitz sweeps Tarxien off their feet

Floriana 5
Farrugia 15, 19, 22; Draganov 32; Doffo 55;
Tarxien Rainbows 1
Sergio 49 pen;

The relentless rain threatened to force this game off but Floriana will be thanking their lucky stars that it wasn’t.

Unfazed by the difficult pitch conditions and spurred on by a desire to snap a four-match losing streak, Floriana conjured up a whirlwind start, racing into a three-goal lead inside the opening 22 minutes to leave Tarxien Rainbows flabbergasted.

The inclement weather will probably have caused some concern for Michael Woods who was taking charge of his first game as Floriana coach following the dismissal of Bulgarian Todor Raykov last weekend.

Woods need not have worried as his players looked intent on pledging their support for their new boss with a show of determination and forceful football.

Their early goal flurry came from an unlikely source as it was Tyrone Farrugia who struck twice, possibly three times as the defender looked to have applied the decisive touch for the third goal, to propel Floriana into a commanding 3-0 lead midway through the first half.

While Farrugia’s ability to drift into dangerous positions at set-pieces caught the eye during yesterday’s game, Christian Cassar also delighted the Floriana fans with an influential performance reminiscent of the time when the midfielder was regarded among the brightest prospects of Maltese football.

Inevitably, Floriana’s initial blitz all but shattered Tarxien’s hopes of recording their third win over the Greens as the Blues extended their winless run to four matches to drop to fifth in the table, two points behind their latest conquerors.

The sight of striker Daniel Nwoke joining his team-mates for the pre-match warm-up is likely to have been greeted with joy and relief by the Floriana fans. Nwoke’s injury lay-off had been a hammer blow for the Greens who suffered four straight defeats in the Nigerian’s absence.

Woods made four changes from the side that suffered a 4-0 defeat to Marsaxookk as, apart from Nwoke, Thomas Paris, Duncan Pisani and Christian Cassar were handed a first-team recall.

Clyde Borg was ruled out by suspension, Owen Bugeja and Sacha Borg were demoted to the subs’ bench and Egyptian forward Mohammed El Yamani was not in the 18-man squad.

Tarxien’s starting line-up showed two changes from the 3-1 loss to Birkirkara as Ryan Mintoff and Gianluca Calabretta replaced Justin Grioli and Manuel Caruana who were serving a one-match ban.

Suspension also deprived Tarxien coach Noel Coleiro of a potent attacking weapon in Brazilian striker Daniel Mariano Bueno.

The rain-drenched pitch hindered the two teams’ early efforts to find their passing rhythm. After 14 minutes of sloppy football, Floriana broke the deadlock. Cassar’s set-piece cross from the left sailed dangerously towards the six-yard box where the towering Farrugia anticipated David Cassar and headed home.

Floriana’s opener stung the Rainbows into action. Cristiano threatened to make it one-all but his piledriver was smothered away for a corner from Lofti Saidi, the Floriana goalkeeper. The ensuing corner, taken by Sergio, was fisted away by Saidi who, moments later, was rescued by the woodwork as Cristiano’s shot from another Sergio corner cannoned off the crossbar.

Tarxien were alive and kicking but their revival was cut short when the Greens doubled their lead. The slippery conditions played a crucial part in Floriana’s second goal as Cassar, the Tarxien goalkeeper, fumbled Cassar’s seemingly innocuous free-kick with the ball coming off the base of the near post and into the path of Farrugia who tapped home.

This came on 19 minutes. Not more than three minutes passed and Floriana went 3-0 up. The Tarxien rearguard was again found wanting as Cassar hit a swerving cross-cum-shot from a left-wing corner and Farrugia’s menacing presence at the near post unsettled Cassar. Farrugia appeared to get a faint touch to Cassar’s corner as the ball rolled behind the diving Tarxien goalkeeper but the Floriana midfielder signalled that the goal was his.

The Greens’ storming start rattled Tarxien who looked on incredulously as their opponents celebrated their third goal inside the opening 22 minutes.

A bold, instant reaction was imperative for Tarxien to get back into contention. Cristiano, yesterday partnering Ricardo in attack, turned well inside Floriana’s box but his rising effort was repelled by Saidi.

Floriana, who had Nwoke spearheading their attack with Ivan Woods and Dragomir Draganov lending support from the wings, wrapped up the points with a fourth goal two minutes past the half-hour.

Mano Micallef strode forward down the left and sent in a low cross into the goalmouth where Nwoke was held off by the Tarxien defenders but the loose ball fell to Draganov who blasted home.

Tarxien looked shell-shocked as the Greens stayed in command. Cassar averted more misery for the Rainbows when blocking Farrugia’s close-range header from another perfectly-flighted Cassar corner.

Three minutes from the end of the first half, Everton, pushing up the right wing for Tarxien, picked out Ricardo whose low shot posed no trouble to Saidi.

Tarxien gained a glimmer of hope three minutes into the second half when they won a penalty after Brian Said was penalised for pushing Cristiano in the box. Sergio despatched a rising shot past Saidi to pull one back for Tarxien.

Lifted by their goal, Tarxien strove to take the game to Floriana but the latter restored their four-goal lead 10 minutes into the second half courtesy of Pablo Doffo whose thunderous drive from long range had the better of Cassar.

The Greens threatened to mete out further punishment on their hapless opponents when Nwoke burst clear and flicked the ball past the advancing Cassar but the Nigerian was closed down by Everton.

Midway into the second half, Cassar, who had had a miserable afternoon so far, prevented Floriana from moving 6-1 up when he tipped Farrugia’s dipping header over the bar after Tarxien had failed to deal with another superb Cassar cross from a free-kick.

At the other end, the Floriana defenders effected a collective blocking act to stop successive shots from Sergio and Cristiano after Tarxien’s Brazilian forwards had combined well inside the box.

In the dying moments, Cassar denied Farrugia another goal when keeping out his downward header from another Cassar corner. The Tarxien goalkeeper then warded off a strong drive from Woods and Lee Galea blocked Nwoke’s follow-on attempt as Floriana ended the game on the attack.

Floriana
L. Saidi-7, B. Said-6.5 (84 O. Bugeja), T. Paris-6.5, T. Farrugia-8, D. Pisani-6.5, P. Doffo-7 (70 J. Borg), I. Woods-6.5, D. Draganov-6 (79 S. Borg), C. Cassar-8, M. Micallef-6, D. Nwoke-6.

Tarxien Rainbows
D. Cassar-3, S. Sadowski-6, Everton-5, G. Calabretta-4 (46 S. Hili-4), Ricardo-4, Cristiano-6, Sergio-6 (82 A. Farrugia), L. Vella Critien-5, O. Anonam-5, R. Mintoff-4 (36 J. Vella-4), L. Galea-4.

Referee: Andre Arciola.

Yellow cards: Anonam; Saidi; Cristiano; Draganov.

BOV player of the match: Tyrone Farrugia (Floriana).

Attendance: 816.