Floriana-Valletta 0-4

Floriana: S. Agius, D. Pisani, T. Cilia, C. Cassar, Y. Bolasie (M. Gauci), C. Caruana, M. Micallef (C. Ciantar), J. Briffa, Z. Levniac, M. Brincat, A. Mifsud (R. Darmanin)

Valletta: A. Hogg, J. Grioli, K. Scicluna, J. Mifsud, S. Bezzina, D. Camilleri, S. Giglio (D. Falzon), F. Temile, I. Zammit (J. Bondin), H. Backhaus (C. Mattocks), S. Monesterolo

Referee: A.M. Sant asst.refs: K. Borg, I. Spiteri 4th official: K. Azzopardi

Scorers: I. Zammit, S. Monesterolo, K. Scicluna, F. Temile

Yellow cards: S. Monesterolo, F. Temile, H. Backhaus, J. Briffa

Red card: S. Monesterolo

Player of the match: Frank Temile (Valletta)

TMI top three: 1. I. Zammit 2. F. Temile 3. Z. Levniac

Valletta’s goal scoring machine continued yesterday, hitting four past eternal rivals Floriana to make amends for their first round 3-2 defeat.

This time Valletta looked confident, composed, full of flair and extremely quick. The fast pace of Monesterolo, Temile and Zammit up often left the Floriana players in a tizzy.

It was extremely hard for Floriana to keep up with their opponents?superior pace, especially in the second half, as they go through a mini crisis after collecting only one point from their last three games.

Valletta, who move up to second place, only one point behind leaders Sliema Wanderers, required half an hour to execute an exhilarating breakthrough against a leaky Floriana rearguard, alarmingly conceding too many goals of late and yesterday already struggling without Darko Krstestki.

Both sides?willingness to push forward, made sure of an entertaining fare. Encouraged by both sets of colourful supporters, they pressed hard on the throttle and the opening minutes lived up to expectations. Backhaus?low drive went narrowly wide. On the other end, keeper Hogg tipped Caruana’s goalbound effort over the bar and on the quarter hour, Hogg again was called to palm out Brincat’s powerful shot.

On 19 minutes Giglio’s sailing free kick was headed wide by Temile, but on the half hour Valletta finally broke the deadlock. Ivan Zammit controlled Temile’s short pass on the edge of the area and after beating an opponent, drilled an unstoppable shot past the helpless keeper Agius.

That goal paved the way for Valletta’s romp after the interval. Hardly four minutes into the second half, Floriana’s defence was caught in disarray after Micallef lost possession when pressed by two Valletta players on the byeline. Zammit crossed low towards the middle and with the goalkeeper caught out of place, Sebastian Monesterolo shot low into an unattended goal.

Three minutes later, Valletta made them 3-0. Giglio’s corner kick from the right was missed by Backhaus but Kenneth Scicluna nipped in to knock the ball over the line at the far post.

Floriana were on the back foot but made some reaction and surprisingly carved out two clear opportunities that could have put them back in the reckoning. Caruana’s slalom put him through inside Valletta’a area but Hogg was alert to block on the ground. Then Cilia’s rasping shot nearly surprised Hogg, even because of the slippery surface, but somehow the Valletta keeper saved into a corner.

On the hour Valletta were down to ten men when Monesterolo, who tried to handle the ball over the Floriana goal, received his second caution and consequently dismissed.

Floriana, who had already substituted Mifsud with Darmanin failed to capitalise on their numerical superiority though and as Valletta remained the more menacing on the break, they eventually conceded the fourth goal on 66 minutes. Frank Temile crowned a good performance with a well taken goal after a surging run from midfield, beating Briffa’s challenge in the process and the onrushing keeper with a low drive.

With Floriana throwing down the towel, Valletta remained complete masters, dismantling their old rivals with plenty to spare and preserving a third consecutive clean sheet.