A very determined and united squad gave Valletta a dominant win against the other title contenders Luxol. The stunning performance throughout the whole season of both teams reached its peak, turning the game into a very entertaining match.

In the twelfth minute Georgian Gia Nikvashvili broke the deadlock and put the Citizens on the lead. A minute later Andy Mangion levelled matters till the end of the first half.

Two minutes from the beginning of the second half, Valletta’s Nikvasvili found the net again. Columbian Camilo Andres Gomez Vanegas added another one for the Lillywhites and made them 3-1. It was again Nikvashvili’s turn to add another one for Valletta and mark his personal hat-trick. After various dangerous opportunities from both sides, Dylan Musu sealed the end result of 5-1.

Next week both teams will have to confront each other with either Valletta confirming themselves as Elite Champions, or with Luxol winning the next match. If the latter be the winners, the title will be given in the third and final match.

Mriehel ESS and Tarxien JMI will be Division One finalists, afer respectively beating Pietà Nordiska and University of Malta.

In the first semifinal Mriehel ESS had their match winner in the last 30 seconds. Pietà’s Nikolay Filipov opened the score just 20 seconds from the first half whistle. In the second half Mriehel ESS had their equalizer through Christian Micallef. Finally, Faisal Alnakoo’s goal ticketed Mriehel ESS’ presence in the final with the end result of 2-1.

The other semifinal was a short breathening encounter in which Tarxien JMI won 7-5 after the penalty shootout. The Universitarians were leading 3-0 with Shawn Deguara’s brace and Jose Maria Aguilera Castellano’s goal.

In the second half Tarxien JMI were transformed completely and reduced the score through Craig Pickard’s and Dylan Cacciatolo’s own goal. Dusan Rakic momemtarily gave hope to his fellow Universitarians. Tarxien JMI levelled the score to 4-4 through Manuel Caruana and Claudio Venuto.

In the penalty shootout, Radovan Duric, Uros Markovic and Armando Djepali scored for Tarxien JMI. Dusan Rakic found the net for the Universitarians but earlier Jose Maria Aguilera Castellano missed the target from the penalty spot.

Coming fixtures

Division One Play Offs Final

Thursday 22/3/18

8:00 pm Mriehel ESS vs Tarxien JMI

Elite Play Offs Final Leg 2

Friday 23/3/18

8:00 pm Valletta vs Luxol