Pieta H. 0
Balzan 3
Pieta H.: N. Vella, T. Bartolo (S. Okoh 77), N. Pace Cocks (G. Kekua 62), D. Agius, J. Busuttil, N. Pisani, G. Mensah (J. Scicluna 80), JM Artiaga, S. Radovanovic, U. Calistus, I. Jalo
Balzan: S. Mintoff, N. Sljivic, S. Pisani, S. Bezzina, P. Fenech, U. Ljubomirac (D. Camilleri 77), I. Bozovic, E. Serrano Valero, D. Correa, A. Majdevac (A. Effiong 70), M. Lepovic (S. Cipriott 67)
Referee: A. Johnson
Asst refs: D. Sultana
4th official: I. Barbara
Scorers: A. Majdevac 35, D. Correa 61, A. Effiong 77
Yellow cards: U. Ljubomirac 25, G. Mensah 51
BoV Player of the match: D. Correa
TMI Top 3: 1. D. Correa, 2. M. Lepovic, 3. I. Bozovic
Struggling Pieta Hotspurs were soundly beaten yesterday as the vastly superior Balzan added three further points to their tally thanks to an easy 3-0 win.
Andrija Majdevac gave them the lead in the first half and Duarte Correa and Alfred Effiong scored in the second half.
The victory enabled Balzan to maintain their challenge for 3rd or 4th place and it was the first for recently appointed coach Jacques Scerri, after having seen his team drawing against Mosta in the previous match.
On their part, Pieta remained on 10 points and are bottom placed together with Qormi on 10 points.
Balzan were the better team throughout - they must have enjoyed possession for at least 75 of the 90 minutes.
Pieta were forced on the defensive and when they tried to move upfield, they struggled so hard that they failed to test Balzan goalie Sean Mintoff at least on one occasion.
The Hotspurs lacked punch up front and it was obvious that their intention was to try and keep Balzan at bay. Till they suffered that unlucky first half goal, they seemed to be handling the situation at the back quite well, but after that unfortunate moment, it was evident that they never stood a chance against so superior opponents. Suffice to say that they never tested Balzan goalie Sean Mintoff throughout the whole match.
The Hotspurs certainly need a total revamp to keep alive their hopes of eventually avoiding relegation.
The first action arrived on 12 minutes when Steve Pisani noticed Pieta goalie Nicholas Vella out of position, but his effort went hopelessly wide.
On 17 minutes Balzan were unlucky not to have taken the lead when from a Steve Pisani freekick, Ivan Bozovic saw his flick hitting the upright.
In the 28th minute, from another Pisani freekick, it was Serrano Valero who headed the ball badly from an ideal position - it finished well wide of Pieta's posts.
In the 30th minute, from a Correa freekick, a Majdevac header was flicked into the Pieta net by Serrano Valero but the goal was disallowed on grounds of offside.
Balzan took the lead on 35 minutes and they had to thank Pieta's Stefan Radovanovic for the goal. He breasted the ball towards his goalkeeper, but the ball went straight into Andrija Majdevac's path who had little difficulty in planting the ball past a helpless Vella.
Three minutes later, Balzan threatened again through a Lepovic first timer, but his goal-bound shot was blocked by a Pieta defender.
The second half started with Correa perfect pass for Lepovic, but the latter's shot went wide.
In the 56th minute, as Balzan insisted on attack, a Bozovic cross was not controlled well by Correa in front of goal and goalie Vella could save easily.
Balzan scored their second goal in the 61st minute when from a Ljubomirac cross, Lepovic saw his shot partially saved by Vella, but Correa was on hand to hit home the rebound.
Balzan remained in control and on 68 minutes, it was Steve Pisani who missed a sitter hitting over the bar from five metres.
On 75 minutes, Bozovic had a shot going just wide. But on 77minutes, it became 3-0 as Pisani set substitute Effiong in the area and the latter beat Vella.
On 87 minutes, Steve Pisani was unlucky with a shot that hit the crossbar after receiving a good pass from Effiong.
Just before the final whistle, Effiong came face to face with goalie Vella, but his effort went just wide.