Valletta 1
Caruana 68;
Tarxien Rainbows 0
Jonathan Caruana came off the bench to fire Valletta to a winning start in their Premier League title defence last night following a hard-fought victory over a resolute Tarxien Rainbows side.
Caruana, who was making his return to first-team football from injury, spared the Malta champions’ blushes with a providential winner that finally broke the resistance of a solid Tarxien outfit that had made life difficult for their more illustrious opponents with a tight and solid defensive cover in front of Nicky Vella’s goal.
Mark Miller’s decision to introduce Caruana and Denni, both declared fit to make the squad after shrugging off injuries, turned out to be a master-stroke as their contribution infused the spark necessary for Valletta to grab three vital points and launch their bid for a third successive championship on a sound footing.
Tarxien, on their part, will feel hard done-by to leave the stadium empty-handed after failing to hold out for a point. True, they showed great character in keeping out Valletta’s continuous attacking forays but Danilo Doncic’s team lacked spark upfront to provide any sort of concern to the City defence.
As expected, it was Valletta who dominated proceedings for much of the first half with Tarxien penned in their own territory and only trying to hit with fast breaks on striker Danilo.
Valletta almost struck after only four minutes when Shaun Bajada, who was making his debut for the Citizens, created space for himself on the edge of the area before unleashing a powerful drive that flew just over.
Six minutes later, Michael Mifsud showed all his dribbling skills when he sped past three opponents before firing a rasping drive that finished just over the bar.
Tarxien’s first attempt at goal arrived on 19 minutes when Danilo ran past two Valletta defenders before hitting a low shot that was palmed away to a corner by goalkeeper Manwel Bartolo.
Despite their territorial dominance, the Citizens were becoming increasingly frustrated in failing to break down the Tarxien rearguard marshalled superbly by Orosco Anonam.
And the Lilywhites had to wait till the 35th minute to create another scoring opportunity.
They were awarded a free-kick from a central position but Barbosa’s attempt at goal finished over Vella’s goal.
Just before the interval, Bajada dribbled his way into the area and sent in a teasing cross into the path of Mifsud who was anticipated by Steve Bonnici as he was about to shoot.
In the second half, the Citizens continued where they had left off before the interval. On 47 minutes, Ryan Fenech tried his luck from the distance but his shot was dealt with in two attempts by the Rainbows goalkeeper.
Tarxien responded eight minutes later when Danilo served Daniel Mariano Bueno on the edge of the City area but his effort at goal was stopped by Bartolo.
A minute later, it was Gabriel who showed deft skills to evade his Tarxien marker but the City man’s grounder was again stopped by the agile Vella.
Then, Miller effected the double change that brought more life into his team as he withdrew Barbosa and Fenech for Denni and Caruana respectively.
Caruana moved in to partner Ricardo in central defence with Steve Borg switching to right-back and Roderick Briffa moving to a more advanced midfield position.
The tactical move reaped its dividends almost instantly as Mifsud found space inside the Tarxien penalty area and won a corner. From the flag-kick, taken by Gabriel, it was Caruana who was first to the ball to head past Vella.
Denni then almost emulated Caruana when he slipped past his marker before curling a shot that flashed just wide.
Three minutes from time, Bajada again came close for the Citizens when his stinging drive flew just past upright.
In time added on, Gabriel had a glorious chance to seal the points when he dashed clean through on goal but the Brazilian incredibly fired over with only Vella to beat.
That miss failed to derail City’s spirits though and seconds later the referee blew the final whistle for the champions to start their 2012-13 campaign on the right track despite having to labour more than expected to claim the points from modest opponents.
Valletta
M. Bartolo-6, S. Borg-6, R. Fenech-6 (63 J. Caruana-7), J. Gabriel-5, Leandro-5.5, R. Briffa-6, Ricardo-6, D. Falzon-6 (80 I. Azzopardi), W. Barbosa-6 (63 Denni-7), M. Mifsud-6.5, S. Bajada-6.5.
Tarxien Rainbows
N. Vella-6, C. Mamo-6.5, A. Agius-5 (80 M. Caruana), J. Shead-5 (75 M. Tanti), Danilo-5.5, K. Pulo-5 (88 W. Chircop), D. Bueno-6, Luiz de Castro-6.5, O. Anonam-7, S. Bonnici-6.5, J. Grioli-6.
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: Pulo, Fenech, De Castro, Bueno.
BOV player of the match: Orosco Anonam (Tarxien Rainbows).
Att: 1,599.