Gudja            0
Floriana        2

Gudja: T. Aquilina (J. Debono 45), J. Bondin, Z. Cassar (PP Sammut 62), D. Grima (T. Al Mahrooqi 45), R. Winchester, C. Santana,G. Mensah, A. De Barros, HJ. Vella, JA Bolanos, J. Grioli

Floriana: I. Akpan, E. Ruiz, D. Venancio, K. Keqi, UJ Arias (T. Vella  80), B. Paiber (C. Borg 67), J. Pisani, A. Caseres, A. Cini, R. Camenzuli, T. Fonseca (E. Herrera 74)

Referee: T. Farrugia Cann

Asst refs: D. Stankovic

4^th official: A. Camilleri, D. Portelli

Scorers: T. Fonseca 41, 45

Yellow cards: R. Camenzuli 28, C. Santana 31, R. Winchester 51, C. Borg 85

Red cards: D. Venancio 22

BOV Player of the Match: T. Fonseca

TMI Top 3: 1. T. Fonseca, 2. D. Venancio, 3. C. Santana 

A 10-man Floriana side comfortably beat Gudja United 2-0 yesterday to move to the top of the standings on 11 points.

Goals from Tiago Fonseca on 42 and 45 minutes saw the Greens obtain all the three points which have enabled them to remain on top of the standings.

It was also a first defeat for newly promoted Gudja who had figured in four draws in their opening four games.

Floriana were missing the suspended Mattias Garcia, while Gudja had Aidan Friggieri missing - ruled out through injury.

In the first half, Floriana appeared to have an edge over their opponents and richly deserved their two-goal lead which matured near the end of the first half with the goals arriving in the 42^nd and 46^th minutes.

And all this happened after they had a man (Caceres) sent off on 22 minutes. Despite playing with a man less, they still were the better side showing the better ideas and creating the best, albeit few, scoring chances.

Gudja were only a shadow of the team which had remained unbeaten after four draws in their opening four matches.

Even when they enjoyed numerical superiority, they rarely showed any flair and failed to test Floriana goalie Akpan seriously at least on one occasion.

In the second half, Gudja improved but Floriana were very solid at the back where Enzo Ruiz was outstanding.

In fact, the newly promoted side only had two decent efforts, a shot saved by the Floriana keeper and a header which went just wide.

It was Floriana who had the first attempt at goal. From a Venencio cornerkick, a Ruiz effort was blocked to a corner by a Gudja defender. From the cornerkick, the ball was cleared out to Arias, but his effort was well saved by goalie Aquilina.

In the 22^nd minute, Floriana ended in 10 men when Augusto Caceres was shown a red card for a very dangerous tackle on goalkeeper Aquilina following a Brendon Paiber lob towards goal.

On the 28^th minute, Ryan Camenzuli also risked being shown a red card when he floored the advancing (from midfield) Rundell Winchester, but the official only showed him a yellow card.

In the 32^nd minute Floriana went close to scoring when a Venancio freekick had goalie Aquilina in difficulty, but the Gudja custodian managed to tip the ball onto the crossbar and the ball was eventually cleared by a defender.

In the 41^st minute, Floriana took the lead when Tiago Fonseca advanced unhindered on a through pass from defence and kept his cool to beat goalie Aquilina with a low shot.

It was 2-0 in first half added time, when Fonseca was again the scorer. He beat goalie Aquilina with a great low shot from around 20 metres.

On 55 minutes, Gudja had their first real attempt at goal. It was a Gabriel Mensah effort from the edge of the area which goalie Ini Akpan turned to corner.

Despite Gudja's insistence in moving forward, Floriana again threatened on 62 minutes when a Keqi effort went just over the bar.

And in the 73nd minute, it was Venancio who tried his luck from well outside the area, but his shot was well controlled by substitute goalie Jonathan Debono.

In the 83^rd minute, Keqi missed the target from the edge of the area and moments later, it was substitute Herrera who squandered a good opportunity hitting a weak shot which was easily saved by Debono.

At the other end, from a Justin Grioli low cross, Winchester lifted the ball over the bar from an ideal scoring position.

In the 89^th minute, Gudja went closest to scoring when from a Grioli cornerkick, Mensah saw his header going just wide.