Five-star City scorch Spartans

Valletta 5
Denni 26; Briffa 46, 86; E. Agius 80, 82;
Ħamrun Spartans 0

A commotion sparked by a burning car in the parking area threatened to turn the heat on tearaway leaders Valletta yesterday.

Two goals up against the injury-ravaged Ħamrun Spartans, Valletta suffered a temporary loss of concentration in the second half as sights were drawn to events outside the stadium but they quickly rediscovered their flair to pound their opponents’ rearguard.

Their domination paid off spectacular dividends as Valletta struck three times in the final 10 minutes to send their mirthful fans into raptures.

The festive mood among the vocal Valletta supporters was justified as the imperious Citizens, still unbeaten after 24 matches and 13 points clear at the top, need a win from their remaining four matches to capture their 20th championship.

The enthusiasm of the City fans was in great contrast with the indifference of the Spartans fans, the majority of whom stayed away from the stadium yesterday.

The multitude of empty seats in the enclosure side allocated to Ħamrun made one wonder whether their supporters had decided to boycott this match in light of their team’s lacklustre performances of late.

Striker Ian Zammit was the only notable absentee for Valletta whose coach Jesmond Zerafa again elected to keep forward Terrence Scerri on the bench. Zerafa also deemed it fit to give Gilbert Agius a breather as the City captain was among the substitutes.

Andrade was charged with the responsibility of leading Valletta’s attack with Denni given freedom to roam.

The attacking duties for the Spartans, who were without the likes of Rupert Mangion, Dene Shields, Jovan Vukanic and Dyson Falzon, were bestowed on Dylan Kokavessis and Brazilian Marcelo Pereira who started on the left wing.

Eight minutes from the start of the game had elapsed when Andrade pounced on a short clearance in the Ħamrun box but fired over from a favourable position.

Ħamrun had the ball in the net after 10 minutes when Roderick Fenech’s backheader from David Camilleri’s free-kick flew past Andrew Hogg but referee Paul Caruana had blown his whistle, presumably for a foul by a Spartans player.

Valletta were quick to transfer the ball forward, Denni advanced on the right before pulling the ball back for Roderick Briffa whose thunderous drive was pawed away by Omar Borg, the Spartans goalkeeper.

Denni then headed wide of the near post from Edmond Agius’s cross as the leaders began to assert their superiority. Borg denied Valletta an opener when flying to his right to push Briffa’s long-range scorcher away for a corner.

Valletta’s initial pressure produced a breakthrough on 26 minutes when Denni’s curling cross-cum-shot from a long-range free-kick arched into the box and, amid the ensuing melee, Steve Borg’s forward lunge appeared to unsettle the Spartans goalkeeper who could only watch the ball sail into the net.

Despite dominating possession, Valletta were finding it hard to translate their supremacy into clear openings.

They had to wait until the dying stages of the first half to fashion a decent opportunity but Denni blasted over after the Spartans failed to clear Ryan Fenech’s free-kick.

Briffa was just wide with a pulverising drive but the Valletta midfielder got the goal his influential performance deserved when prodding past Borg after getting on the end of Andrade’s cross inside the opening minute of the second half.

Valletta persevered with their attacking approach. Fenech burst into the box but his diagonal shot was off target.

The Spartans had a good chance to reduce the arrears when Kokavessis pulled clear of the Valletta defence but he skewed his shot over.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Nikolai Chipev released Pereira in the box but the Brazilian hit wide.

Valletta’s failure to maintain their momentum induced Zerafa to make a double substitution as Gilbert Agius and Scerri replaced Jamie Pace and Andrade respectively on 65 minutes.

The two entrants almost made an instant impact as Gilbert Agius charged clear and squared to Scerri whose tame effort was cleared away by Fenech.

With 15 minutes remaining, Scerri squandered another gilt-edged opportunity when heading wide at the far post after meeting a cross from Gilbert Agius.

It was all Valletta now. They rubberstamped their win when Edmond Agius side-footed the ball home after being teed up by the dynamic Fenech.

Barely two minutes later, Edmond Agius lit up the stadium as the industrious midfielder scored his side’s fourth with a fulminating shot from the distance.

Valletta’s blitz showed no signs of abating. Advancing on the right, Steve Borg set up Briffa who made it 5-0 with a first-time shot that took a deflection on its way home.

Valletta
A. Hogg-6, J. Caruana-6, S. Borg-6, I. Azzopardi-6.5, Ramon-6.5, E. Agius-7.5, J. Pace-5 (65 G. Agius-6.5), R. Briffa-7.5, Denni-6.5 (80 K. Sammut), Andrade-5 (65 T. Scerri-5.5), R. Fenech-7.

Ħamrun Spartans
O. Borg-6.5, S. Bonnici-5, K. Magro-5, R. Fenech-6.5, M. Grima-6.5, D. Camilleri-5 (85 C. Debattista), M. Mifsud (21 G. Azzopardi-5), N. Chipev-6, G. Spiteri-5 (81 P. Anizoba), M. Pereira-4, D. Kokavessis-4.

Referee: Paul Caruana.

Yellow card: Bonnici.

BOV player of the match: Roderick Briffa (Valletta).

Attendance: 1,767.