SLIEMA WANDERERS-0, BALZAN-2

Balzan stayed in touch with the pace-setters after beating Sliema Wanderers 2-0.

The Reds' fourth win in a row was secured in the first half with goals from Pedrinho, who was facing his former team, and a brilliant solo effort from Alfred Effiong.

After a quiet start, Balzan began to take control.

They forged ahead on 26 minutes through Pedrinho whose brilliant free-kick gave Glenn Zammit not chance.

Moments later, Sliema lost debutant Saviour Fidelis to injury after the Nigerian suffered a chest injury after going up for a challenge with Justin Grioli.

Fidelis was carried away on a stretcher before being taken to hospital.

Amid this commotion, Sliema nearly levelled matters as Gary Muir's free-kick was deflected towards Stefano Bianciardi but his close-range effort was kept out by the sprawling Janjusevic. The Balzan goalkeeper then pushed away Rafael Ledesma's cross-shot from a corner.

Three minutes from the end of the first half, Balzan went 2-0 thanks to a fine goal from Alfred Effiong who produced a great run from midfield that took him past a host of Sliema players before hitting past Glenn Zammit.

Early in the second half, Alan Da Silva Souza cut inside Luke Dimech but his drive was wide.

Lydon Micallef, who had come on for Ryan Fenech, swept into the Sliema box as he turned this way and that but his final effort was repelled by Dimech.

Janjusevic then gave away a free-kick after he collected Grioli's backpass but Muir's shot was blocked. From the ensuing melee, Kyle Hendry's drive was turned away by the Balzan goalkeeper.

With 13 minutes left, Paul Fenech released Micallef in the box but the latter's drive, from an angled, was stopped by Dimech.

Sliema should have pulled one back 10 minutes from time as the sprinting Hendry held off his marker before squaring to Alex Muscat inside the box but the latter hit wide.

Micallef had the chance to kill the game but rifled wide with only Zammit to beat on the stroke of time.

Da Silva Souza, the Balzan winger, was chosen as BOV player of the game.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.