Valletta took a significant step towards reaching the second qualifying round of the Europa League after they beat La Fiorita 3- 0 in Serravalle last night.

It was a solid display from Mark Miller’s men who after a slow start gradually took control of proceedings and were rarely troubled by the San Marino side.

Denni scored at either side of half- time of yesterday’s first leg while Ian Zammit came off the bench to add a late third goal.

The three- goal lead leaves the Citizens upbeat to finish the job in next week’s second leg and set up a second qualifying round tie against Belarus side FK Minsk.

The match was evenly balanced in the opening stages, but the Citizens gradually got more into the picture and deservedly took the lead on the half hour.

La Fiorita defender Federico Rinaldi handled the ball inside his area in an attempt to anticipate Ian Azzopardi and the referee immediately pointed to the spot.

From the resultant penalty, Denni beat Simone Montanari with a low drive.

On the restart, Miller switched to a five- man midfield when he introduced Shaun Bajada for defender Jonathan Caruana.

The move yielded instant dividends as Valletta doubled their lead five minutes into the second half.

Dyson Falzon’s throughball released Denni who showed great footwork before beating Montanari.

Zammit came on for Denni on 85 minutes but he still found time to add a third in stoppage time.