Floriana 0
Valletta 1
Barbosa 31;
Jubilant Valletta fans celebrated wildly at the final whistle after the champions ground out a 1-0 win over Floriana in their first derby of the 2011/12 Premier League season.
With early front-runners Hibs going four points clear on Friday, the pressure was on Valletta to overcome their rivals and trim the gap back to one point.
The Citizens achieved their aim but their performance left something to be desired as they made heavy weather of beating the valiant Greens who had been hit hard by first-half injuries to key players Christian Caruana and Tyrone Farrugia.
To their credit, Floriana soldiered on but they were bereft of the creativity and cutting edge to pose more problems to Valletta who enjoyed a late flurry of chances but sound goalkeeping from Manuel Bartolo prevented them from adding to their lead.
A special guest for the derby was UEFA Head Protocol Victor Grove.
Although Valletta’s performance never reached the desired standards, they deserved their win as they were the livelier side throughout but the finishing of their forwards let them down on more than one occasion after William Barbosa had given them a first-half lead.
Dyson Falzon’s lively performance in Valletta’s 2-1 victory over Birkirkara earned him a berth in the starting formation as Alfred Effiong was named among the substitutes.
Gilbert Agius was available after completing his two-match suspension but the veteran stalwart had to be content with a place on the bench.
Jesmond Zerafa stuck with 4-2-3-1, Michael Mifsud taking up the lone striker’s role in front of the mobile trio of Barbosa, Denni and Falzon who was initially deployed on the left wing.
Goalkeeper Bartolo reclaimed the no.1 jersey for Floriana as Ghanian William Amamoo was only conspicuous by his absence from the 18-man squad.
Bartolo’s inclusion was one of three changes from the team that began the 3-1 win over Balzan as John Mintoff and Thomas Paris were also restored to the first XI.
Nigerian forward Boris Odwong sat on the bench but Joseph Okonkwo was missing.
Woods was forced into his first substitution after only five minutes as Caruana succumbed to injury. He was replaced by Joseph Borg who was detailed to man the left wing with Christian Cassar taking on Caruana’s roaming duties behind Ivan Woods, Floriana’s attacking fulcrum.
The first noteworthy chance arrived on 15 minutes. Edmond Agius supplied a teasing cross-cum-shot from a left-wing free-kick but Bartolo anticipated the lunging Steve Borg to fist the ball away.
Valletta had more possession in the early stages but their attacking threat was negligible. The game was 27 minutes old when the champions fashioned their best chance so far.
Roderick Briffa’s cross landed at the feet of Mifsud who looked to have stumbled only to recover his balance just in time to square the ball to the unmarked Denni whose first-time shot was too central to trouble Bartolo.
At the other end, Pablo Doffo’s soaring cross from a long-range free-kick was met by Tyrone Farrugia but his header was easy prey for Andrew Hogg.
The white-shirted players seized the lead from their next raid. The clock marked 31 minutes of play when Mifsud drifted infield from the left before serving Barbosa who controlled the ball before drilling his shot past Bartolo to send the vocal City fans into raptures.
The sight of Farrugia being stretchere off deepened Floriana’s predicament as the defender’s participation was cut short by injury.
Clyde Borg came on for Farrugia with Doffo dropping to centre-half alongside Owen Bugeja.
Inevitably, Floriana took a while to adapt to the enforced changes but Valletta failed to capitalise. Late in the first half, the Greens stirred. Woods twisted this way and that as he forced his way into the box but the Valletta defenders cleared.
Three minutes into the second half, Mifsud broke clear but rifled over from an angled position.
For all the expectations of an intriguing derby, the first half had been generally dull. Despite enjoying a clear edge, Valletta lacked the inventiveness to translate their possession into scoring opportunities.
Bartolo kept Floriana’s heads above water when, nine minutes into the second half, he produced an excellent one-handed save to palm away Jonathan Caruana’s point-blank effort after Falzon’s right-wing corner had sparked a goalmouth scramble.
When Mano Micallef halted Borg’s run from the back, danger loomed for the back-tracking Citizens as the Floriana captain powered forward before crossing the ball for Woods. The latter created space for a shot but his effort sailed over.
The Greens coach took a gamble as, having had to make two substitutions in the opening half, he made his third on 63 minutes, Odwong coming on for Cassar.
Running on to Ian Azzopardi’s pass, Denni waltzed his way into the box but shot straight at Bartolo.
The match remained drab as both teams laboured to infuse their play with a modicum of fluency.
Floriana protested for a penalty when Briffa dashed backward to throw his body between the running Odwong and team-mate Borg but referee Adrian Azzopardi saw nothing wrong.
Memories of Floriana’s winning goal in last season’s FA Trophy final will have flooded the minds of the City fans as Woods prepared to take a free-kick after Effiong, who had replaced Falzon, tripped Odwong well outside the box. Woods’s drive had power but drifted wide and high.
Gilbert Agius, a late substitute for Barbosa, almost hit the killer punch as he swooped at the far post to connect with Edmond Agius’s free-kick but his effort was smothered away by Bartolo.
After punching away Agius’s ensuing corner, Bartolo distinguished himself again with a timely intervention to block Denni’s strike after the Brazilian had received from Effiong.
Mifsud then headed over from Gilbert Agius’s cross as the game opened up, with Floriana going up at the other end winning a free-kick in a dangerous position.
The relief of the Valletta fans was considerable when Woods’s grounder was blocked by Hogg.
Floriana
M. Bartolo-7.5, O. Bugeja-6.5, T. Paris-6, J. Mintoff-5, P. Doffo-7.5, M. Micallef-6.5, C. Caruana (5 J. Borg-6), I. Woods-6, D. Pisani-5, T. Farrugia-5.5 (35 C. Borg-6), C. Cassar-5 (63 B. Odwong-6).
Valletta
Hogg-6.5, J. Caruana-6.5, S. Borg-6, I. Azzopardi-7.5, R. Briffa-6.5, J. Pace-6.5, E. Agius-6, D. Falzon-6 (72 A. Effiong), Denni-6 (90 O. Zongo), W. Barbosa-6 (78 G. Agius), M. Mifsud-6.
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: Cassar; Azzopardi; Woods; J. Borg; Hogg; C. Borg.
BOV player of the match: Pablo Doffo (Floriana).
Attendance: 3,287.
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Hibernians | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 22 |
| Valletta | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 21 |
| Floriana | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 5 | 16 |
| Qormi | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 13 |
| Birkirkara | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 13 |
| Sliema | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
| Mqabba | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 10 |
| Balzan | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 8 |
| Marsaxlokk | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 7 |
| Ħamrun | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 7 |
| Tarxien | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 4 |
| Mosta | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 4 |