BALZAN-0, VALLETTA-1
Lateef Elford Alliyu came off the bench to score the winner as Valletta ground out a 1-0 win over Balzan.
The English striker found the net midway into the second half but the key man for Valletta yesterday was goalkeeper Nicky Vella who, having conceded a penalty, atoned by saving Elkin Serrano's fierce shot from the spot.
With this win, Valletta have closed in on second spot as they are now five points clear of Birkirkara who face champions Hibernians tomorrow.
For Balzan, who were missing key strikers Bojan Kaljevic, Gianmarco Piccioni and Oscar Guerrero, all injured, this was their first defeat after six wins but the Reds have already secured fourth place and qualification for the Europa League.
The first half produced no goals but it was Valletta who created the better chances.
In the 16th minute that the Citizens threatened to break the deadlock as Hamza Barry jinked his way into the box but his grounder rolled against the base of the far post.
Valletta remained the better side but their efforts were repelled by the Balzan defenders.
The erstwhile prudent Balzan created a good move with Steve Bezzina going forward on the left before releasing Edison Zarate who was dispossessed.
Three minutes past the half-hour, Balzan goalkeeper Christian Cassar pushed away Nafti's cross-shot from a free-kick.
At the other end, Dylan Grima blasted high and wide after Valletta had failed to clear Justin Grioli's corner.
Cassar pulled off another timely save to bat away another menacing cross-shot from Nafti, this time from a corner, but the game remained generally dull.
Valletta should have scored when Barry's cross from the right found Nafti unmarked at the far post but the Tunisian's header drew a point-blank save from Cassar.
Nicky Vella, the City goalkeeper, was also called upon to stop Micallef's drive.
After a quiet start to the second half, Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza dashed through the City defence to run on to Ice Cream Guobadia's excellent pass from the back but the Balzan striker was flagged offside.
Twelve minutes into the second half, Balzan had a great opportunity to nose ahead. Zarate sent in a dangerous cross from the left but Luke Dimech was alert to flick the ball away from Grima. The loose ball rolled towards the unmarked Micallef but his central effort was stopped in two attempts by Vella.
Four minutes past the hour, Cassar, the Balzan goalkeeper, stopped Nafti's free-kick, but two minutes later, Valletta opened the scoring.
Fastening on to Briffa's lofted pass into the box, Barry's strike again came off the far post but this time the ball rolled towards Lateef Elford-Alliyuy who flicked home.
The Whites were now showing the better ideas. Ian Azzopardi, cutting in from the left, passed to Briffa but the latter's drive was repelled by the alert Bezzina.
Balzan issued a reminder of their counter-attacking ability as Grima hit jusy wide after bursting clear on the right but, 13 minutes from time, the Reds had a golden chance to equalise.
Vella gave away a penalty after he was adjudged to have brought down Guobadia in the box.
The Valletta goalkeeper atoned for his mistake as he produced an excellent save to push away Elkin Serrano's spotkick and reacted quickly to ward off Zarate's follow-on effort.
Three minutes from time, Elford Alliyu nodded wide from Llywelyn Cremona's cross.
Balzan refused to lie down. Serrano, now playing in attack picked out Grima at the far post but the former City midfielder miscued his effort.
Barry, the Valletta midfielder, was voted BOV player of the match.