Tenacious Greens snuff out the flair of Valletta

Valletta 1
Zongo 45;
Floriana 1
Woods 11;

With the start of the Championship Pool around the corner, the final game of the ‘warm-up’ lap was widely expected to offer a taste of things to come as champions Valletta locked horns with rivals Floriana, yesterday.

Given their standing as favourites to retain the title and boasting a squad overflowing with stellar names, Valletta were fancied to complete the double over their fierce adversaries but it is often said that past form and reputations count for little in derby games.

That certainly rang true yesterday as Floriana justified their billing as a compact, hard-to-beat team to take a point off their much-vaunted opponents after the game ended one-all.

Wary of Floriana’s defensive prowess and sound work ethic, Valletta coach Jesmond Zerafa had intimated in the build-up that an early goal would significantly strengthen his side’s chances of winning the derby but his prayers were not answered as it was the Greens who plucked up further courage after taking an early lead.

That breakthrough eroded Valletta’s aura of invincibility and although the champions stirred to gain a deserved equaliser on the stroke of half-time, they were unable to breach Floriana’s dogged resistance a second time.

The drawn outcome was just as neither side deserved to lose although Floriana were clearly happier with a result that not only improves their chances of challenging for a top-two finish but also adds further intrigue to the title race as Valletta will start the second phase only two points ahead of Hibs.

Michael Mifsud, emboldened by his brace of goals in Malta’s 2-1 victory over Liechtenstein, flanked Aleksandrs Cekulajevs up front as City coach Jesmond Zerafa retained the starting XI that beat Balzan in their last league outing.

In central midfield, Roderick Briffa and Edmond Agius were expected to provide craft and graft while Ousseni Zongo and Denni were again afforded freedom to roam on the wings.

Earning a berth in the Valletta squad for the first time since May was striker Terrence Scerri, his return boosting the number of Maltese players at Zerafa’s disposal.

Mindful of Valletta’s flair, Floriana coach Michael Woods moved to stiffen his midfield with the inclusion of the industrious Clyde Borg ahead of the more attack-minded Christian Caruana in the only change from the team that held Hibs to a goalless stalemate in their last league game.

Brazilian Alandson was positioned at the apex of Floriana’s 4-1-4-1 formation with Ivan Woods and John Mintoff offering support from the flanks.

The status of this fixture as one of the main highlights in the local football calendar was in full evidence yesterday as a sizeable crowd gathered at the stadium.

As is their wont, the Valletta fans turned up in their thousands, transforming their side of the enclosure into a cauldron of colour and noise.

Their buoyant mood darkened after 11 minutes as, in their first telling raid into their opponents’ half, Floriana broke the deadlock.

Making headway on the left, Mintoff swung in an excellent cross and Woods, left completely unattended at the far post, dived to send his header beyond Andrew Hogg’s reach.

It was now the turn of the Floriana faithful to raise the volume as they taunted their rivals with chants of “we’re not hearing you”.

Valletta would have levelled were it not for the woodwork as Roderick Briffa’s dipping drive from outside the box cannoned off the crossbar.

At the other end, Jonathan Caruana came to the rescue with a perfectly-timed tackle to nudge the ball away from Alandson inside the six-yard box.

From the resultant corner, Doffo arrowed his cross towards the centre of the box where Eric Akoto towered above everyone but his header was wide.

Valletta were now pushing forward with renewed urgency in their bid to level matters. Agius ran himself into a good shooting position but his effort was touched away for a corner by Patrick Jansen, the Floriana goalkeeper.

Despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession, Valletta were having problems breaking through Floriana’s midfield barricade as the likes of Doffo and Joseph and Clyde Borg were quick to close down their opponents to the extent that the front pairing of Cekulajevs and Mifsud were star-ved of any decent service.

The sight of Gilbert Agius doing his warm-up triggered a spontaneous applause from the City supporters.

With seven minutes of the first half remaining, the Greens came close to a second goal when Alandson flicked the ball forward and the fired-up Woods got behind the back-tracking City defenders before unleashing a piledriver that required Hogg to jump high to push it over the bar.

Valletta yelled ‘penalty’ when Briffa ended on the turf after being challenged by Clyde Borg but the referee saw nothing untoward.

Then, Cekulajevs’s header was easily saved by Jansen.

But, the champions were back on equal terms on the cusp of half-time.

Mifsud jinked along the edge of the box and past three opponents before being brought down. The referee promptly sounded his whistle to award a free-kick and Zongo bent his shot beyond the wall and away from the diving Jansen.

Buoyed by their equaliser, Valletta tore out of the blocks at the start of the second half. Floriana blocked successive efforts by Denni and Agius but the ball squirmed into the path of Zongo whose angled drive whizzed wide of the near post.

Put through by Briffa, Denni should have propelled Valletta ahead as he glided into the box unchallenged but out came Jansen to repel the Brazilian’s effort.

Valletta’s sprightly approach at the start of the second period had Floriana on the ropes.

On the hour mark, Floriana were forced into their first substitution as Woods’s participation was cut short by injury. The veteran forward was replaced by Caruana. Zerafa also made his first substitution, Gilbert Agius coming on for Mifsud.

The tit-for-tat manoeuvres by the two coaches continued as Floriana’s Woods introduced Andre Grabowski for Alandson while Zerafa brought on Alfred Effiong for the disappointing Cekulajevs.

The arrivals of Caruana and Grabowski were intended to add guile and pace to Floriana’s forward line while those of Agius and Effiong brought different qualities to City’s attack to those offered by Mifsud and Cekulajevs.

With 21 minutes left, Valletta spurned a golden opportunity to go ahead as Denni’s set-piece cross from the left soared above a thicket of players and Ian Azzopardi stole in the far post only to head over from routine distance.

Valletta’s struggles to deal with crosses in their box almost gifted Floriana an opening but Akoto blasted over from a good position inside the area.

Another cross, this time from a Doffo set-piece, spread panic in the City area as Akoto headed backward and Grabowski’s volley was deflected towards Caruana who tried to hit the ball on the volley but failed to make contact.

Caruana’s central header from Grabowski’s free-kick was saved by the alert Hogg as Floriana remained dangerous from deadball situations.

In the closing stages, Valletta mounted a lengthy raid on Floriana’s defence, thanks mainly to Gilbert Agius’s persistence who dispossessed Owen Bugeja but his successive crosses were cleared by the Floriana defence.

Valletta
A. Hogg-7, J. Caruana-6, S. Borg-6, S.M. Panandetiguiri-6 (81 W. Barbosa), A. Cekulajevs-5 (66 A. Effiong-5), I. Azzopardi-6, R. Briffa-6, E. Agius-6, O. Zongo-7, Denni-6, M. Mifsud-6 (60 G. Agius-6).

Floriana
P. Jansen-6.5, I. Woods-7 (60 C. Caruana-5.5), E. Akoto-7, O. Bugeja-7, J. Mintoff-6, P. Doffo-7, M. Micallef-6, D. Pisani-6, J. Borg-6, Alandson-5.5 (62 A. Grabowski-5.5), C. Borg-6.

Referee: Mario Apap.

Yellow cards: Panandetiguiri; Woods; Akoto; Effiong; Azzopardi; Grabowski.

BOV Player of the match: Ousseni Zongo (Valletta).

Attendance: 4,011.