Valletta 4
Cremona 23; Nafti 28, 37; Azzopardi 90;
Tarxien Rainbows 0

A potentially tricky match against Tarxien Rainbows, in desperate need of points, turned into a stroll for Valletta, yesterday.

Their vast experience and superior attacking flair proved too much for Tarxien.

Shorn of five first-team players, the depleted Rainbows struggled to keep up with their opponents and any hopes they had of taking any points from the match fizzled out inside the opening 37 minutes, the time it took the champions to surge into a 3-0 lead.

Tarxien had initially been intent on limiting the damage as coach Clive Mizzi, keen to avert a fourth consecutive defeat, fielded a very solid 4-4-1-1 formation.

But after the first quarter of an hour, Tarxien ceded the intiative to Valletta who were in firm control for much of the opening 60 minutes and only then the Rainbows presented themselves in the City box as the match came to life.

In the end, Valletta emerged as comfortable winners to bridge the gap on second-placed Birkirkara to three points as they look to finish the season in the runners-up spot.

Suspensions deprived Mizzi of four key players – Owen Bugeja, Carlos Hevia, Firas Aboulezz and Mouhamed Soly while Ishmael Grech was also missing from the starting formation.

On the other side, Nigerian defender Ikenna Paul Hillary was in Valletta’s starting XI, replacing the suspended Steve Borg, while Nicky Vella was given the nod ahead of no.1 goalkeeper Pietro Marino.

Ivan Zammit, the Valletta mentor, kept faith to the 4-3-3 module with attacking trident – Llywelyn Cremona, Hamza Barry and Abdelkarim Nafti – shifting positions thus giving the Tarxien rearguard no point of reference.

For all the abundance of attacking players, the early exchanges were devoid of scoring chances as both teams toiled to find some sort of rhythm.

Inside the first ten minutes, Triston Caruana tested Vella with a long-range drive which the City goalkeeper turned away for a corner.

The Citizens broke the deadlock from their first decent scoring opportunity after 23 minutes.

Roderick Briffa initiated the move by slipping the ball towards Cremona. “Offside” yelled the Tarxien players but as the assistant referee’s flag stayed down, Cremona sidestepped his marker to lift a shot over Sean Mintoff.

After a somewhat indifferent start, Valletta began to dominate but lacked fluidity in attack.

When Ryan Sammut barged into Cremona outside the box, danger loomed for Tarxien as Valletta were awarded a free-kick near the D. Their fears were justified as Nafti produced an inswinger that arched over the wall and into the top corner beyond Mintoff’s despairing dive.

In the 37th minute, Luke Dimech, who was brought on to replace the injured Briffa, sent a pass towards the edge of the area from the right and Nafti reached out at full stretch to guide the ball past Mintoff on the volley and into the far corner.

The second half was less than eight minutes old when Barry turned well inside the box but his angled shot fizzed wide of the far post.

Past the hour mark, Tarxien finally presented themselves in the Valletta box but Caruana’s set-piece landed over the bar.

Soon after, Triston Caruana’s shot was too tame to trouble Vella.

Ryan Fenech kept tormenting the Rainbows and six minutes from time his fierce drive from a free-kick flashed just wide.

At the other end, Tarxien created a good move as Jorge Yepes advanced on the flank before switching the ball to Triston Caruana whose menacing volley was kept out by the brave Vella.

But in stoppage time, Valletta went 4-0 up. Fenech’s corner from the right sailed towards the far post and Ian Azzopardi outjumped Mintoff to head home.

With the game having long been won and lost, the Rainbows tried to restore some lost pride but Vella held firm.

Substitute Manuel Caruana delivered an inch-perfect cross for Darlington Obinna who arched a header over Vella but the goalkeeper reacted well to turn the ball over the post.

Valletta
N. Vella-7, J. Caruana-6, I. Azzopardi-6.5, R. Camilleri-6, R. Fenech-6.5, H. Barry-6 (85 K. Borg), R. Briffa-5 (34 l. Dimech), S. Bajada-6 (70 D. Leeflang-5), L. Cremona-7, I. Hillary-6, A. Nafti-7.5.

Tarxien Rainbows
S. Mintoff-6, K. Farrugia-5, J. Yepes-6, T. Caruana-6.5, E. Vallecillo-6 (81 M. Xerri), R. Sammut-5.5, J. Pereira-5, A. Cini-5, M. Tabone-5, D. Obinna-5.5, M. Acevedo-5 (46 M. Caruana-5).

Referee: Philip Farrugia.

Yellow cards: Vallecillo, Dimech, Cremona, Sammut, Mintoff.

BOV player of the match: Abdelkarim Nafti (Valletta).

Attendance: 814.

Standings