Valletta’s Hamza Barry runs past Ricardo Costa, of Tarxien. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Valletta 2
Nafti 53, 72;
Pieta’ Hotspurs 1
Frances 70;

The sight of Claudio Frances placing a low shot behind Pietro Marino 20 minutes from time instilled fears amongst the Valletta supporters of another painful afternoon as the Whites struggled for fluency.

There was no noticeable change in the pattern of the game after that, so when Abdelkarim Nafti produced a moment of magic to send a cute lob over Miguel Montfort and into the net, Valletta coach Ivan Zammit dashed out of his area to celebrate an important winner.

Beset by the absence of a real striker with Latif Elford-Alliyu missing out and Djamel Leeflang limping off in the first half, Valletta laboured to impose themselves on the game as Pietà exuded resilience to keep their opponents at bay.

The Hotspurs showed plenty of graft to weather Valletta’s pressure for long spells but they were undone by two poor pieces of defending that allowed Nafti to notch a brace and help his team to join Birkirkara in second place 31 points, albeit the Stripes have played a game less.

Zammit’s starting XI showed three changes from the 4-0 victory over Tarxien Rainbows as goalkeeper Marino was preferred to Nicky Vella, Steve Borg, back after serving a one-match ban, and Djamel Leeflang started ahead of Ryan Fenech and Roderick Briffa who were left on the bench.

Leeflang was the main striker in Zammit’s 4-1-2-3 formation, receiving support from Nafti on the left and Hamza Barry on the right. Ryan Camilleri moved onto the right flank as Borg partnered Jonathan Caruana at the heart of the defence.

Pietà coach Noel Coleiro made only one change from the 3-1 defeat against leaders Hibs, striker Charles Newuche taking the place of midfielder Kyle Cesare.

Rafael Rodrigues’s injury inside the first quarter, forced Coleiro into his first substitution with Ricardo Costa coming on for his Brazilian compatriot.

The former Tarxien midfielder positioned himself at the centre, pulling the strings in midfield as Luke Micallef and Newuche were granted freedom to interchange in attack in a 4-4-2 formation.

Valletta pressed forward from the off. After 18 minutes, Montfort made a timely block on Ian Azzopardi after good work by Borg.

The Citizens continued to enjoy more possession without extending the Pietà defence. Running on to a clever pass by Llywelyn Cremona, Barry outwitted his marker but his grounder from an angled position rolled across the face of goal.

Zammit made his first change just before half hour when Leeflang was stretched off with ankle trouble as Fenech came on for the Dutch striker. He was also forced to tweak his formation with Nafti drafted in to a makeshift striker’s role and Barry probing from behind in a 4-4-1-1 configuration.

Pietà fashioned the first chance of the second half, Leonardo Fortunato heading straight into Marino’s hands from Frances’s free-kick.

Not before long, Valletta issued a reminder of their counter-attack threat as Nafti sped clear of his marker but his central flick went wide.

A cohesive Valletta move opened up the Hotspurs defence on 53 minutes. Shaun Bajada laid the ball to the advancing Nafti who had the presence of mind to lift the ball over the onrushing Montfort.

Chances came thick and fast in the early stages of the second half with both teams upping the tempo of their game.

On 56 minutes, Borg was a picture of disbelief when his header from Nafti’s corner was hooked off the line by Gabriel.

At the other end, Ikenna Hillary lost possession cheaply near the halfway line, Gabriel released Luke Micallef who sped through, rounded onrushing Marino and fired the ball into an empty net, only to see his effort crash against the foot of the post.

Valletta did not heed the warning, however, and when Frances burst clear on to a through pass by Micallef, the Argentine striker out-sprinted Marino and placed a low shot into the net.

Pietà’s joy was short-lived as they failed to clear the ball in midfield and Nafti pounced to send the ball into the top corner of the net from close range to the relief of the Valletta crowd at Ħamrun ground.

At this point, Zammit introduced Luke Dimech for Cremona, switching to five-man defence, a way of shutting up shop.

In stoppage time, Marino leapt to his right to pay away Costa’s pulverising drive.

Then, Nafti tried to surprise Montfort with a chip after a good run by Bajada but the goalkeeper palmed the ball away.

Valletta
P. Marino-6.5, J. Caruana-4.5, I. Azzopardi-6, R. Camilleri-5.5, D. Leeflang-5 (43 R. Fenech-5), H. Barry-6, S. Borg-6, S. Bajada-6.5, L. Cremona-6 (77 L. Dimech), I. Hillary-5 (85 R. Briffa), A. Nafti-7.5.

Pietà Hotspurs
M. Montfort-6, K. Micallef-6, C. Grech-6, L. Fortunato-6, J. Pisani-6.5, Gabriel-6 (73 K. Cesare), C. Attard-6, R. Rodrigues (15 R. Costa-6), C. Newuche-5 (62 D. Agius-5), L. Micallef-7, C. Frances-7.

Referee: Fyodor Zammit.

Yellow cards: Gabriel, Fenech.

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

Standings