Valletta 6
Floriana 0
This was a clear demonstration of Valletta's attacking power in a match where they demolished rivals Floriana in a one-sided derby at the National Stadium, yesterday.
It was a classy performance from the Citizens who were clearly in a league of their own for most of the match. They were all over their opponents from the outset and once Terrence Scerri put them ahead after 17 minutes there was no way back for the demoralised Greens.
Scerri and Priso Doding were a constant menace for the Floriana defence but one must also mention the sound display of Jordi Cruyff whose clever movement and distribution of the ball opened up acres of space in the opponents' half.
Roddy Collins must put his team's poor performance behind him as Floriana were outplayed and outmuscled all the way.
The loss to injury of Christian Cassar and Sunday Eboh clearly hampered Collins's gameplan but Floriana must show considerable improvement if they are to reach their objective of qualifying for Europe next season.
Collins had his two new English strikers, Donovan Simmonds and Sunday-Akani Wasiu, available. Orosco Anonam managed to recover from a foot injury but Pablo Doffo was out with groin trouble.
Valletta coach Ton Caanen had Geert den Ouden out of his starting formation as he opted for a 4-1-2-3 formation with Scerri filling the central striker berth and Dyson Falzon and Doding playing on the wings.
A colourful and noisy atmosphere welcomed the players on the field with both sets of fans parading flags and streamers to create a great spectacle at the stadium.
A notable presence in the VIP area was former Valletta striker Frank Temile who greeted his former fans and presented them with flowers amid the cheers of the City faithful.
Valletta almost struck inside the opening four minutes when in a quick break Falzon raced into the box before squaring the ball to Priso whose shot was punched away by goalkeeper Bernard Paris.
The loose ball ran into Priso's way but his shot finished inside the side-netting.
It was all Valletta in those early stages and their pressure paid off on 17 minutes when Priso's cross found Cruyff who nodded the ball into the path of Scerri and the latter blasted home in style.
There were more woes for the Greens as a minute later Collins was forced to make his first change when Cassar limped out injured.
Floriana's first shot at goal arrived on 24 minutes, Ryan Darmanin's grounder was pushed away by the alert Andrew Hogg.
Nine minutes later, Priso again burst through but his diagonal shot was palmed away by Paris.
Collins was clearly not happy with his team's showing and five minutes from the break he withdrew Darmanin and sent on Christian Caruana.
However, Valletta soon rubber-stamped their authority with a second four minutes from the break.
Priso was again the provider. This time his centre reached Cruyff who beat Julian Briffa to the ball before firing past Paris.
Collins made use of all three substitutions by the start of the second half when Eboh was not fit enough to resume play and he was replaced by Owen Bugeja.
Valletta were soon on the offensive and on 48 minutes they were awarded a penalty when Paris charged out of his goal and brought down Scerri inside his box. Priso easily dispatched the ball into the net to put the Citizens 3-0 up.
Falzon should have made it 4-0 on 53 minutes when in a swift break Priso put Scerri through. The former Hibs striker quickly squared the ball towards Falzon who saw his shot blocked by Paris.
Priso, however, struck two minutes later when in another swift raid he exchanged the ball with Scerri before rounding Paris and depositing the ball into an empty net.
Floriana were in shambles now and Scerri almost made it 5-0 but his shot just flashed wide. However, the 2008-09 top scorer made no mistake on 65 minutes as he beat the offside trap and chipped the ball over Paris before tapping it inside an empty net.
Scerri almost completed a hat-trick on 72 minutes but his overhead kick bounced off the bar.
The rout was completed in time added on when Priso squared the ball to substitute Ian Zammit who hit delightfully into the top corner of the net amid the huge celebrations of the City fans who will be toasting this rare emphatic victory over their neighbours and sporting foes in their usual inimitable way.
Valletta A. Hogg-6, S. Bezzina-6.5, R. Briffa-6.5 ('67 S. Borg-6), L. Dimech-6.5, K. Scicluna-6.5, J. Pace-7, G. Agius-6.5 ('60 I. Zammit-6.5), J. Cruyff-7.5, D. Falzon-7 ('70 G. den Ouden-6), T. Scerri-7.6, P. Doding-8.
Floriana B. Paris-4, J. Briffa-4.5, C. Ciantar-5.5, O. Anonam-4, S. Eboh-5 ('45 O. Bugeja-4), J. Borg-5, C. Cassar ('18 L. Agius-5), M. Briffa-5, D. Simmonds-4.5, Akani-Sunday Wasiu-5, R. Darmanin-4 ('40 C. Caruana-5).
Scorers Scerri 17, 65; Cruyff 41; Priso 48 pen, 55; Zammit 90
Referee Clayton Pisani.
Yellow cards Anonam, Paris, Agius.
BoV Player of the Match Priso Doding (Valletta).
Playing Today
5 p.m. Tarxien vs Birkirkara
7 p.m. Qormi vs Sliema