Valletta 1
Qormi 0
Valletta: Hogg A, Borg S, Caruana J, Dos Santos R, Pace J, Sammut K, Omonwigho T (Falzon D 61’), Rocha dos Santos D (Agius E 88’), Scerri T, Okonkwo J (Zammit I 53’), Azzopardi I
Qormi: Farrugia M, Kang HJ, Sammut R, Farrugia J, Mallia G (Camilleri B 86’), Giglio S, Vandelannoite J, Bondin J, Byedov K (Frendo C 78’), Bartolo M, Belio-Osagis A
Referee: Azzopardi Kevin
Scorers: Scerri T
Yellow cards: Kang HJ, Omonwigho T
Player of the match: Bello Osagii A (Qormi)
TMI top three: 1. Bello Osagii,2. Scerri T, 3. Farrugia J
Terence Scerri popped up in the 82nd minute to grab three precious points for Valletta in a far from convincing win against Qormi in the second encounter at the National Stadium.
Valletta were all out to gain maximum points in their game against Qormi after their hiccup against Hibernians last week. On their part Qormi were looking to obstruct the Lilywhites’ passage to the title especially after their victory against Vittoriosa last week which buoyed their spirits no end.
Qormi fielded Vandelannoite, the Nigerian Bello-Osagii and Kosta Byedov up front while Valletta were still relying on the Okonkwo-Rocha Dos Santos-Omonwigho triptych up front with the latter proving again a disappointment. The Lilywhites started with a 4-4-2 formation while Qormi adopted a more prudent 4-5-1 setup to contain the expected onslaught.
Valletta came out strong but Qormi had a good chance to open the score on 15 minutes when Byedov latched on to a loose ball with his shot deviated into Hogg’s hands. Valletta appeared strangely toothless up front with Qormi containing the threat quite easily and looking dangerous on the break.
On 27 minutes, Denni dos Santos created some space on the right but his shot went across goal. On the half hour Terence Scerri shot tamely into Farrugia’s hands as Valletta started piling up the pressure. However the rest of the half was pretty monotonous with neither side creating anything.
In the first minute of the second half, Bello-Osagii tested Hogg with a fierce drive from outside the box. On 52 minutes a fine cross by Borg found Omonwigho whose shot ended up well over the bar. A goalmouth melee’ soon followed with Omonwigho again in evidence but his shot was blocked by the Qormi defence.
A defensive error by Steve Borg led to Bello-Osagii finding some space but the Nigerian’s shot was central and easily saved by Hogg. The introduction of Falzon and Ian Zammit failed to make much inroads for Valletta but when everyone seemed resigned to a draw the Lilywhites took the lead.
A seemingly innocuous cross by Sammut found Terence Scerri in the box who coolly slotted home after the ball had come off a Qormi defender. Qormi appeared stunned and could not react much with Valletta easily seeing off the final minutes to record an important victory.