Melita 1
Vukanic 17 pen;
Valletta 5
Gabriel 15, 89; Mifsud 65, 69 pen; Tufegdzic 75 og;
After Birkirkara and Hibernians had recorded convincing wins to extend their winning start to four games, Valletta were widely tipped to complete another perfect weekend for the league’s early pace-setters.
Their opponents yesterday were Melita, the Division One champions who have preserved their amateur status despite their ascent to the top flight. With the newcomers having taken only one point from their first three games, Valletta were expected to coast to an easy victory and, at first glance, the 5-1 scoreline suggests that such forecast was met.
The reality was different and, although the champions were worthy winners, Melita defied expectations with a gritty performance that made life difficult for the Citizens.
Far from being intimidated by their opponents’ lofty reputation, Melita not only defended well but also attacked with purpose, taking only two minutes to cancel Valletta’s opener.
As the game drifted past the hour mark, the score was still 1-1 but a sequence of events, starting with the introduction of Michael Mifsud and the dismissal of Melita defender Jovan Vukanic, swung the balance in Valletta’s favour.
Mifsud struck a quickfire brace as Valletta reigned supreme while the 10-man Melita suffered a total collapse and conceded four goals in the final 30 minutes.
Valletta coach Mark Miller awarded a starting berth to Brazilian forward Leandro Da Silva as Mifsud was kept in reserve.
Ian Azzopardi was restored to the initial XI, taking up the left-back duties from Dyson Falzon who was among the substitutes.
With William Barbosa out of the starting line-up, captain Roderick Briffa and Shaun Bajada were expected to combine craft with graft in central midfield with Brazilian Gabriel given liberty to break forward and swap positions with the two wingers, Denni and Ryan Fenech.
Melita were buoyed by the return of goalkeeper Matthew Sapiano and midfielder Manwel Ramon Sierra Camacho.
Coach Martin Gregory made four changes from the Hibs defeat as defender Ivan Tufegdzic and Matthew Borg also earned first-team recalls.
Inside the first two minutes, Manuel Bartolo, the Valletta goalkeeper, fisted away a dangerous cross-shot from Jovan Vukanic as Melita sought to make an early statement of intent.
Moments later, Luke Micallef blasted over after being released by Julian Galea, the highly-rated Melita captain.
It didn’t take Valletta long to create their first opportunities.
Fenech headed over from Azzopardi’s cross and, on four minutes, Gabriel drifted into the box from the left and laid the ball for the Malta midfielder whose rising effort was cleared away by the Melita defence.
The champions remained in ascendancy, Sapiano saving a low shot by Gabriel who had been served by Azzopardi.
Melita’s resistance was broken on 15 minutes.
A prolonged City raid saw Fenech deliver a teasing cross into the goalmouth with Leandro missing the ball as he attempted an overhead kick. The ball dropped to Denni whose thunderbolt crashed against the crossbar but Gabriel was on hand to head home.
Somewhat surprisingly, Valletta’s lead was short-lived as the brave Melita jolted their more-quoted opponents with an instant equaliser.
Having served notice of his ability to run into dangerous positions, the elusive Galea, occupying the ‘no.10’ position behind the main striker, turned well in the box only to be felled by Azzopardi.
The referee pointed to the spot and Vukanic drilled his shot past the diving Bartolo.
Buttressed by their encouraging start, Melita retained composure.
On one occasion, Jose Luis Armando Negrin’s progression into the City box unsettled the opposing defenders as the stocky Spaniard, the most advanced player in Melita’s 4-2-3-1 formation, forced his way into the six-yard box before being crowded out by a posse of white shirts.
As was to be expected, Valletta enjoyed more possession but Melita were well-drilled and easily coped with the champions’ pressure.
A stray pass that was easily intercepted by Melita was indicative of Valletta’s on-going troubles to find their usual rhythm. That may have changed when Fenech burst past Tufegdzic and strode into the box but his grounder ended wide.
Unflustered, Melita threatened to take a shock lead after a flowing move that stemmed from a back-heeled pass by Galea to Micallef.
As the Valletta defenders advanced in an attempt to put the Melita forwards in an offside position, Micallef assessed his options before slipping a perfect through-ball to Negrin whose goalward strike was parried away by Bartolo. Ricardo was first to the rebound, flicking the ball back before hooking it away.
Melita served up another early warning when, in the first minute of the second half, Negrin made headway in the City half before hitting wide from a favourable position.
It was then Sapiano’s turn to distinguish himself as he first saved a header by Steve Borg and then sprinted off his line to ward off Denni’s close-range flick after the Brazilian connected with a low cross from Fenech.
Unimpressed by their team’s showing, the City fans called on the ‘champions’ to get their act together. Valletta’s pressure grew but Melita dug in. Jonathan Caruana headed over from Bajada’s corner and Fenech surged into the box but his central effort failed to unsettle Sapiano.
This after Miller had unleashed Mifsud and Barbosa for Azzopardi and Leandro respectively.
Gregory responded with a double substitution of his own, throwing on Nigel Rizzo and Kane Micallef for Luke Sammut and Andrew Caruana Scicluna.
But, on 65 minutes, Valletta went 2-1 up, Mifsud making an instant mark on the game with a first-time strike that had the better of Sapiano after Melita had partially cleared Gabriel’s corner.
Things got worse for Melita as three minutes later Vukanic was shown a straight red card for blocking Gabriel’s goalbound effort with his hands.
Melita had been undone by Mifsud’s run as the Malta captain squared to Denni who in turned passed to Gabriel.
The penalty was converted by Mifsud who scored a double in the space of nine minutes.
With 15 minutes remaining, Valletta put the seal on their win when Tefugdzic diverted the ball into his own net in an attempt to clear Denni’s angled strike after the Brazilian had been sent clear by Barbosa.
Valletta were now in firm control. Caruana went close with a low shot that was slightly off target.
Fenech should have put his name among the scorers when Denni found him unmarked inside the box but hammered wide.
A minute from time, Valletta scored their fifth. Mifsud, once more, was the architect as he strode forward before threading a through-pass to Denni who had evaded Melita’s offside ploy. Denni sent a low cross into the six-yard box and Gabriel stabbed home from point blank.
Sapiano denied Valletta a sixth goal when pushing Falzon’s high-riser over the bar.
Melita
M. Sapiano-6, D. Gravino-6, I. Tufegdzic-6.5, M. Borg-6, L. Sammut-6 (64 N. Rizzo-5), J. Galea-7, M.R. Sierra Camacho-6, L. Micallef-6, A. Caruana Scicluna-6 (65 K. Micallef-5), J.L. Negrin-6.5 (71 R. Alhinho), J. Vukanic.
Valletta
M. Bartolo-6, S. Borg-6, I. Azzopardi-6 (60 M. Mifsud-8), J. Caruana-6, Ricardo-6, R. Briffa-6, S. Bajada-6 (75 D. Falzon), Gabriel-6.5, Denni-6, R. Fenech-6.5, Leandro-5 (60 W. Barbosa-6.5).
Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.
Red card: Vukanic (M) 68.
BOV player of the match: Michael Mifsud (Valletta)
Attendance: 1,169.
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Valletta | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 12 |
| Birkirkara | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| Hibernians | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 12 |
| Qormi | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Floriana | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| Sliema W. | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Hamrun | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Mosta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Tarxien | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Balzan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| Rabat Ajax | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| Melita | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 1 |
Playing today
National Stadium
Tarxien vs Balzan - 18.00
Mosta vs Hamrun - 20.00