Floriana 0
Valletta 2
Mifsud 31; Gabriel 78;
The flurry of incoming activity at Floriana in recent days, including the arrival of Stephen Azzopardi as coach, had served to lift the erstwhile flailing spirits of the fans ahead of the derby but, on this evidence, it’s clear that UK investor Steve Vaughan must pour a lot more into the club if the Greens are to wrest the initiative from Valletta.
Unfazed by their opponents’ efforts to build up confidence in the lead-up to this clash, Valletta retained bragging rights over Floriana as they virtually dominated the derby from start to finish.
They won with a two-goal margin but could have had more but for some wayward finishing from their midfielders and forwards who swarmed forward with abandon for most of the game, especially in the first half when Floriana were non-existent as an attacking force.
The Greens did improve in the second half, particularly after the introduction of Sunday Wasiu and Ryan Darmanin, but nevertheless they struggled to shake the dominant Citizens out of their comfort zone.
In recent seasons, much has been made of the simmering rivalry between Valletta and Hibs but if anyone thought that the antagonism between City and Floriana had receded, such doubts were convincingly allayed yesterday as the fans produced an electric atmosphere at the stadium.
It was the Valletta faithful, egged on by the Ultras, who had the last laugh as they chalked up their seventh win in eight games to tighten their grip at the top of the standings, moreso after Birkirkara’s shock defeat to Ħamrun on Friday.
Floriana had three debutants yesterday as new signings, goalkeeper Tony Warner and former Everton striker Francis Jeffers, were named in new coach Azzopardi’s starting line-up.
Azzopardi’s appointment as the Greens’ new coach following the departure of Mark Wright was only finalised on Thursday evening but that didn’t stop him from ringing the changes as, apart from the inclusion of Warner and Jeffers, Kane Farrugia and Thomas Paris were restored to the first team.
The onus of leading Floriana’s forward line fell to Jeffers as Azzopardi opted for 4-1-4-1 with Paris anchoring the midfield and Trevor Cilia and Clyde Borg on the wings.
Valletta coach Mark Miller handed a starting role to Kurt Magro as Dyson Falzon was only certified fit to start on the bench.
Ryan Fenech was also among the Valletta subs but Ian Azzopardi and Edmond Agius were missing due to injuries.
Magro started at right-back as Steve Borg moved to the left in a fluid 4-3-3-cum-4-4-2 formation.
The midfield trio was made up of Roderick Briffa, William Barbosa and Shaun Bajada while in attack, Gabriel and Denni provided support for Michael Mifsud.
Latvian referee Aleksandrs Anufrijevs took charge of the derby under the referee exchange agreement between the Malta FA and its Latvian counterpart.
Valletta took less than two minutes to fashion their first chance. Mifsud veered to the right before slipping a perfect pass to Denni who glided past his marker but his shot was high and wide.
Jeffers’s first noteworthy intervention was to incur a yellow card for aiming a shot at goal after the referee had stopped play for offside.
The champions continued to produce the better football. Bajada was wide with a curling effort after he had been teed by Denni’s short corner.
This came after 14 minutes. Moments later, Bajada rifled wide from the edge of the Floriana box after latching on to Briffa’s cut-back.
Another prolonged City raid saw the overlapping Borg pulling the ball back for Gabriel but the Brazilian skied his shot over the bar.
Mifsud did likewise on 21 minutes after Valletta’s attacking trio had broken forward with speed.
The first 27 minutes passed with Floriana having failed to muster a single chance. At the other end, Valletta’s attacking threat was more conspicuous but the Whites struggled to convert their early supremacy into goals.
Jonathan Caruana nearly gave Valletta the lead when he reacted first to Bajada’s corner but his near-post attempt was pawed away by Warner.
The sight of Gilbert Agius, Miller’s no.2, joining his fellow substitutes for the warm-up was met with chants of ‘cé solo un capitano’ (there’s only one captain) by the boisterous City fans. They had more season to be cheerful when, a minute past the half-hour, the Whites broke the deadlock.
Latching on to a pass from Barbosa, Mifsud sped past Farrugia and despatched a fierce grounder past Warner.
The atmosphere in the stands reflected the incandescent rivalry between these two clubs as provocative chants, some of which disgusting, reverberated around the stadium.
Floriana’s subdued showing in the first half was certainly a cause of concern for Azzopardi.
He tried to address his team’s impotence by introducing Wasiu for the anonymous Alhinho and switched to 4-4-2.
An exquisite one-two between Denni and Briffa unlocked the Floriana defence as the City captain crossed for Bajada who miscued his header.
The one-way pattern persisted as Valletta remained dominant. Close to the hour mark, they were unlucky not to increase their lead when Barbosa released Mifsud whose diagonal strike smacked against the foot of the post.
Barbosa was wide with one of his trademark piledrivers before Denni hit a low shot that grazed the upright.
Midway into the second half, Azzopardi made a double substitution, Carl Tremarco and Ryan Darmanin replacing Jeffers and Borg respectively.
Miller was forced into a positional reshuffle after Ricardo succumbed to injury. Borg shifted to centre-half, Bajada dropped to left-back and Gabriel moved to central midfield.
Darmanin did what his team-mates had failed to do in the preceding 70 minutes when he tested Manuel Bartolo with a crisp shot from the D.
Floriana posed a semblance of danger to Valletta when Cilia managed to get in a fine cross from the right but the City defenders cleared. Darmanin then escaped the attentions of the City defenders as he fastened on to a pass from Verma but the lanky striker, under pressure from the sliding Borg, fired wide.
Unperturbed, Valletta got their second 12 minutes from time. And what a goal it was as Gabriel’s stunning shot from the distance beat Warner hands down.
The celebrations of the City supporters inflamed those of their rivals as a minor skirmish broke out in the section occupied by the Greens fans.
On the field, Bartolo blocked Cilia’s central effort.
Then, the Valletta keeper stopped Floriana from clawing their way back into contention with a point-blank save from Varma after the Citizens had failed to clear Cilia’s left-wing corner.
Floriana
T. Warner-5, O. Bugeja-5, T. Paris-6, T. Cilia-6, A. Verma-6, V. Alhinho-4 (46 S. Wasiu-6.5), F. Jeffers-4 (66 C. Tremarco-5), K. Farrugia-5, D. Pisani-5, T. Farrugia-5, C. Borg-6 (67 R. Darmanin-6.5).
Valletta
M. Bartolo-7, Ricardo-7 (68 Leandro), J. Caruana-6.5, S. Borg-6.5, Gabriel-7 (88 I. Zammit), R. Briffa-6.5, Denni-7.5, W. Barbosa-6.5, S. Bajada-6.5, M. Mifsud-7, K. Magro-6.5.
Referee: Aleksandrs Anufrijevs (Latvia FA).
Yellow cards: Jeffers; Alhinho; Mifsud.
BOV player of the match: Michael Mifsud (Valletta).
Attendance: 2,153.
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Valletta | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 5 | 22 |
| Birkirkara | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 9 | 16 |
| Mosta | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 12 | 15 |
| Hibernians | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 15 |
| Sliema W. | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 13 |
| Tarxien | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Balzan | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 10 |
| Ħamrun | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 19 | 10 |
| Floriana | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 13 | 9 |
| Qormi | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 7 |
| Rabat Ajax | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 17 | 2 |
| Melita | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 1 |