Valletta coach Jesmond Zerafa praised his players for the tactical discipline they showed in the goalless derby against Floriana when having to play with ten men for almost an hour.

The fact that Valletta avoided defeat is down to his player’s behavior on the pitch. The Valletta coach twice had to make tactical changes, first when centre back Ramon Dos Santos was sent off and then when other centre back Jonathan Caruans had to leave the field injured. Valletta ended up playing with Steve Borg and Ian Azzopardi in central defence’

According to Zerafa, Valletta were still the more dangerous team and could have even won three points.

Floriana coach Todor Raykov was also satisfied with a point against the best team because it is not easy playing against Valletta.

He had to prepare his players psychologically for this match and the fact that they held on to a draw was down to the hard work of the Floriana players and committee. According to Raykov, starting the second round with 14 points is very good. The team has performed better than this tiem last season and the Bulgarian coach is optimistic.