Balzan 1 Mosta 0
An early second half strike by Edison Bilbao Zarate enabled Balzan to obtain an important win over a 9-man Mosta side yesterday in a battle for fourth place in the standings.
It was Balzan’s first win after nine matches in the campaign.
The victory saw Balzan moving to fourth place in the standings on 22 points, two above Mosta who have now dropped to fifth place.
The match, however, fell well below the desired standards and it was only in the second half that it came to life – after Balzan’s goal.
But it ended in disarray. Three players were sent off – two of them near the end – and these led to some heated arguments between some of the players and some of the rival supporters. Luckily it took only a few minutes for the police and some committee members from both sides for order to be restored, although some supporters from both sides clashed outside the stadium.
For Mosta, Mano Micallef and Daniel Mariano Bueno were ruled out through injury while Ryan Grech was suspended.
Balzan started the match without striker Mifsud Triganza who was sitting on the bench.
The first half was a very poor affair – it was boring to watch except for a long drawn argument over the dismissal of Bojan Kaljevic. It led to referee Mario Apap adding an extra three minutes to the first half.
Neither Mosta nor Balzan showed superiority until the 28th minute when Mosta were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of striker Bojan Kaljevic.
It was from then onwards that Balzan took control of midfield, but even so, they only had one decent effort which almost saw them taking the lead.
But in the second half, despite being a man short, Mosta made a decent effort to get back on level terms. They went close on a couple of occasions, but otherwise, Balzan defended well and were also dangerous in their counterattacks.
Worthy of mention was the performance of Balzan midfielders Edison Bilbao Zarate. He not only scored the winning goal for his side, but was also the supreme master in midfield, inspiring his teammates to an important victory.
The match had a tame start as neither side appeared set to be adventurous in those opening stages.
By the 25th minute, there were only two shots of note. At one end there was Piccioni who had his effort being deviated to a corner.
At the other end, it was Kurt Zammit whose effort from the edge of the area was also blocked to a corner.
On the 28th minute, Mosta ended up in 10 men when Mr Apap showed a straight red card to Bojan Kaljevic for an off the ball incident involving Balzan’s Serrano Valero. Mosta protested hotly about this decision and a feud in mid-pitch also ensued. It had to be some colleagues from both sets to separate some of the players who might have resorted to blows.
In the 44th minute, Balzan went close to opening the score when off a Justin Grioli cross, Ryan Darmanin saw his header hitting the crossbar.
Referee Mario Apap’s whistle for the end of the first half came as a relief to all those at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.
The match finally came to life in the 48th minute. From a freekick in midfield, Bilboa Zarate received the ball to dribble round an opponent before lobbing the ball over Omar Borg and into the net.
Soon after, Balzan almost added a second goal. After another Bilbao Zarate fine move, it was Ice Cream Guobadia who fired a humdinger from the edge of the area only for Borg to fist the dangerous ball away.
In the 57th minute, a Ryan Darmanin header was easily saved by Borg. At the other end, five minutes later, Calcado went close for Mosta with a freekick that just missed the target.
Mosta had another freekick from the edge of the area on 65 minutes, but this time his effort went well wide of the target.
As Mosta insisted in search of an equaliser, Ribeiro dos Santos had two shots going wide.
On 86 minutes, the same player tested goalie Sultana, but the latter was equal to the task.
In added injury time, Mosta finished in nine men when Calcado was also given marching orders by the official.
It was not over yet as there was still time for another dismissal. This time it was the turn of Balzan’s Oscar Guerrero to be sent off.
The end soon came with Balzan holding on to a precious three points.
Zebbug R. 1 Floriana 4
Bottom club Zebbug Rangers were no match for Floriana yesterday as Giovanni Tedesco’s side returned to winning form convincingly after their disappointing 1-1 draw against Pieta last week.
Floiana were a superior outfit - strong at the back, well equipped in midfield and lethal up front.
Zebbug, on their part, were very disappointing. After last week’s first win, I expected them to produce a better performance, but they simply failed yesterday.
Floriana have now moved to the 21-point mark while Zebbug remain firmly anchored at the bottom of the standings on just nine points.
The first half was completely dominated by Floriana who took control early with a fourth minute goal. When they added a second in the 10th minute, the match became an uphill task for the Rangers.
Zebbug, in fact, found it hard to try and get back into contention, and they only managed to create two chances before the interval whistle. On both occasions, they were denied by Floriana goalie Gauci.
The Greens were well served by Samb who scored both goals, but in midfield, Steve Pisani and Emerson Marcelina were definitely in command.
In the second, the Greens reduced their rhythm considerably as Zebbug continued with their feeble efforts to try and get back into contention and in the 70th minute, they did so.
One thought they would continue with their fightback, but it was not to be so as Floriana scored twice in quick succession to make sure of the three points.
Floriana opened the scoring on the fourth minute. It was a nice back heel pass by Plut which set Senegalese striker Amadou Samb in the Zebbug area, and the latter beat Rapchan dos Santos from the angle.
The score became 2-0 on the 10th minute when from a Steve Pisani cornerkick, it was again Samb who headed in past the Zebbug goalie.
In the 16th minute, it was Vito Plut who advanced unhindered on the left after Lee Galea miskicked his clearance, but his low shot hit the upright before going dead.
A minute later, it was Piciollo who almost added a third goal, but goalie Rapchan dos Santos saved his effort with a dive to his left.
In their first real attack, in the 25th minute, Zebbug were awarded a freekick, from which Monti’s cross was headed goalwards by Y. Camilleri, but Floriana goalie Gauci managed to palm the ball away before it crossed the line.
Just before the interval, Floriana goalie Gauci again denied the Rangers when following a cross by Monti, it was Matthew Gauci who tried his luck with a first timer from the edge of the area, but the goalie saved in two attempts.
Early in the second half, it was Borg who missed a sitter for Floriana hitting well over the bar after being put through by Piciollo.
The Rangers missed a good chance to pull one back when Monti set Mamic on the right, but the latter was slow and Samb managed to clear in extremis to corner.
At the other end, Zebbug finally had something to shout about as they reduced the gap after a fine shot by Rodrigues Britto which completely beat young goalie Gauci.
Floriana made sure of the three points on the 78th minute with a splendid third goal. It was Piciollo who sold the dummy to Jacob Borg, advanced on the left and crossed low for Vito Plut to score with a fine flick.
In the 81st minute, Floriana added another. Piciollo exchanged the ball with Plut and received the return to score in an empty net.