Matteo Piciollo... constant menace. Photo: Matthew MirabelliFloriana 3
Piciollo 19, 66; S. Pisani 87;
Sliema Wanderers 0
Floriana have brought in a multitude of new players over the summer but it is an ‘old’ face that has been at the heart of their revival after a difficult start.
Matteo Piciollo, arguably Floriana’s stand-out player last season, had initially left to join ASD Lupa Castelli Romani on loan only to rejoin the Greens in late August.
The Italian striker’s importance to the Greens was in abundant evidence yesterday as Piciollo capped a man-of-the-match display with a brace to propel his team to a 3-0 win over Sliema.
The Old Firm rivals had started the match level on 10 points but once the first ‘derby’ kicked off, there was no contest as Floriana were clearly superior to an inept Sliema side who, bar a brief spell after the interval, were second best in all areas of the pitch.
Piciollo was the star of the show but there were other notable performers for Floriana, namely goalkeeper Matthew Calleja Cremona, Andrea Scozzese and Clyde Borg.
Luis Oliveira, the Floriana coach, went with 4-3-1-2 with the nippy Nicolas Chiesa probing behind the front duo of Piciollo and Mario Fontanella.
Sliema set out 3-4-3 with Pedrinho and Rafael Ledesma playing in support of striker Michael Mifsud.
Floriana tore into the Wanderers from the off, twice going close to seizing the lead.
Inside the opening minute, Jurgen Pisani hit a rasping drive that sailed over the bar.
The Greens should have scored when Piciollo retrieved possession after Sliema had partially cleared a Chiesa corner before mustering a shot that cannoned off the upright. The ball fell to Conor Borg but his effort flashed across the face of goal.
After this initial flurry, the game became more balanced albeit Floriana held an edge.
Antonio Monticelli was marginally wide from the distance but, on 19 minutes, Floriana struck.
The goal came from a likely source as Piciollo’s angled drive landed in the net after hitting the underside of the crossbar.
While the Greens were full of verve every time they ventured forward, Sliema’s attacking threat was meagre. It was not before the 25th minute that the Blues finally began to cause some problems to the Floriana defence.
Pedrinho headed over from Ledesma’s cross and minutes later the Brazilian’s piledriver was blocked in two attempts by Calleja Cremona.
Tempers threatened to boil over when Sliema’s Mark Scerri went down clutching his face after being challenged by Enrico Pepe with referee Trustin Farrugia Cann opting for a foul in the Blues’ favour, a decision that infuriated the Floriana bench.
Stephen Azzopardi, the Sliema coach, moved to stiffen his midfield by introducing Marko Potezica for Johann Bezzina.
Sliema tried to inject some flair and pace into their moves on the resumption.
Their optimism rose when, 10 minutes into the second half, Ledesma, advancing through the middle, picked out Muir who held off Emanuel Briffa and steered the ball past the on-rushing Calleja Cremona. However, right-back Briffa sprinted towards goal to hook the ball off the line.
Calleja Cremona then stopped Pedrinho’s free-kick as Potezica added some bite to Sliema’s midfield even though they remained rather ineffective in attack.
Their evening deteriorated midway into the second half when Piciollo, who else, capitalised on some slack defending as he powered his way into the box, pounced on a deflection and hammered past Zammit from a central position.
Azzopardi responded by hauling off Gatt Baldacchino, a defender, in favour of young forward Aidan Friggieri as Sliema switched to four at the back.
Clyde Borg was stretchered off after picking up an injury which casts doubts over his availability for the national team’s last two Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Sliema looked down and out and the Greens threatened to compound their misery when Fonta-nella freed Villa but the latter’s lob was off target.
Floriana made it 3-0 three minutes from time. Piciollo turned provider as his measured cross from the left was met by the charging Steve Pisani who rifled home.
Pisani, on as a substitute for Conor Borg, marred his celebration by ripping off his shirt.
Floriana
M. Calleja Cremona-7, A. Monticelli-6, E. Pepe-6, Clyde Borg-6.5 (79 M. Villa), Conor Borg-6 (67 S. Pisani-6.5), J. Pisani-6, A. Scozzese-7, M. Piciollo-8, E. Briffa-6.5, N. Chiesa-6.5 (90 F. Aboulezz), M. Fontanella-6.
Sliema Wanderers
G. Zammit-4, A. Muscat-5, M. Scerri-6 (75 P. Xuereb), M. Mifsud-4, Pedrinho-4, R. Ledesma-4, C. Gatt Baldacchino-5.5 (70 A. Friggieri-4), J. Bezzina-5 (40 M. Potezica-6), G. Muir-6, S. Bianciardi-5, L. Dimech-5.
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann.
Yellow cards: Chiesa; Scerri; Pedrinho; S. Pisani.
BOV player of the match: Matteo Piciollo (Floriana).
Attendance: 1,035.