Floriana 2
Juninho 65; Chiesa 69;
Lija Athletic 1
Adeshina 80;
Floriana scored two goals midway through the second half to breach the stubborn resistance of Lija Athletic yesterday.
It was far from a straightforward victory for the Greens who struggled to break down an organised Lija side for most of the match.
Floriana’s superior quality came to the fore on the change of ends when two quick goals from Juninho and Enrico Chiesa gave them a double lead.
Ige Adeshina’s late strike set up a tense finale but the Greens managed to fend off their opponents’ late rally.
Floriana coach Luis Oliveira fielded a strong side but still provided some playing time to a number of fringe players such as Simeone Ezeadi, Daniel Agius and Juninho.
Brian Spiteri, the Lija coach, could bank on his strongest formation as they looked for a second Premier League scalp after ousting Naxxar in the previous round.
It was Lija who threatened first when a bad clearance by Enrico Pepe landed at the feet of Roderick Taliana whose shot from the distance finished just over.
Floriana responded four minutes later when Mario Fontanella sped through but his angled drive was blocked in two attempts by Kurt Rizzo, the Lija keeper.
On 23 minutes, Matteo Piciollo outpaced his marker before trying to release Juninho but McCallister Clinch showed great timing to intercept his pass.
The woodwork denied Floriana an opener on 39 minutes when Lija struggled to deal with Enrico Chiesa’s cross with the ball falling into the path of Pepe whose header came off the upright.
Floriana started the second half with renewed purpose. Daniel Agius made headway on the left and his low cross found Chiesa but the Argentine blasted against the bar with an open goal at his mercy.
At the other end, Floriana goalkeeper Matthew Grech produced a fine one-handed save to keep out Erjon Beu’s drive.
The match remained evenly balanced and on 63 minutes Jorge Garcia Vidal missed a golden opportunity for Lija when he beat the offside trap but shot badly from a good position.
Lija paid dearly for that miss as two minutes later Chiesa flicked the ball towards Juninho who beat Rizzo with a powerful shot.
Four minutes later Floriana made it 2-0 when they were awarded a free-kick from the edge of the box and Chiesa curled the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Lija refused to throw in the towel and 10 minutes from time they pulled a goal back when Antoine Borg delivered a fine cross towards Ige Adeshina who headed past Grech.
The Division One side drew encouragement and applied added pressure on Floriana.
But their hopes were all but dashed a minute from time when Beu was dismissed for a second bookable offence as Floriana safely administered their lead.
Floriana: M. Grech, A. Scicluna, A. Pepe, Juninho, S. Ezeadi, M. Piciollo, D. Agius, F. Aboulezz (46 A. Monticelli), E. Briffa, N. Chiesa (71 S. Pisani), M. Fontanella.
Lija: K. Rizzo, C. Giordimaina, P. Babic, P. Borg, E. Beu, R. Taliana (76 K. Cutajar), A. Borg, M. Clinch, A. Caruana (71 L. Muscat), J. Garcia Vidal, I. Adeshina (89 L.J. Schembri).
Red card: Beu (L) 89.
Referee: Matthew Degabriele.