Valletta-Balzan 1-0
Valletta: N. Revishvili, J. Caruana, S. Borg, R. Fenech, E. Agius (L. Montebello), JP Mifsud Triganza (I. Maisuradze), R. Briffa, O. Abayomi Seun, H. Barry, S. Bajada, A. Nafti (AZ Corr).
Balzan: E. Bartolo, J. Grioli, K. Magro, L. R dos Santos, D. Grima, L. Sciberras, L. Micallef (R. Darmanin), G. McKay (A. Firas), P. dos Santos Calcado, E. Bilbao Zarate, JL. Amario Negrin.
Referee:: I. Azzopardi.
Asst refs: R. Vella, A. Borg Cardona
4th official: G. Tonna
Scorer: AZ Nyang
Yellow cards: L. Micallef, S. Borg, E. Bilbao Zarate, P. Calcado, L. Sciberras, JP Mifsud Triganza, R. Dos Santos,
Red cards:
Player of the match: R. Fenech
TMI Top 3:1. R. Fenech; 2. E. Bartolo; 3. H. Barry
Balzan earned a berth in the Top Six yesterday ending the first phase one point ahead of rivals Naxxar Lions.
Both teams lost their matches yesterday. Balzan went down 1-0 to Valletta while Naxxar lost 3-0 against Hibernians. The end result was obvious – both teams remained with the same number of points.
Valletta’s win enabled them to join Birkirkara temporarily at the top, though the latter made sure of finishing as ’winter champions’ after beating Vittoriosa Stars in the second match yesterday at the Hibs Stadium.
Valletta had four regular players missing from their line-up – Denni dos Santos, Luke Dimech, Elford Lateef and Jason Lee Vandelannoite.
On their part, Balzan also had some players missing, among them the suspended Steve Bezzina and Andre Scicluna as well as the injured Fabio Vigaroli.
Both sides needed the points for different reasons. As widely expected, Balzan offered stiff resistance despite being forced to defend for long stretches.
But in their counter-attacks, they also threatened seriously to take the lead as Valletta could not find their way past Bartolo who was in sparkling form yesterday.
In the second half, the match was lacklustre and it was only six minutes from the end that Valletta finally broke the deadlock with Balzan also happy that at the Hibernians Ground, their rivals Naxxar were losing against Hibernians, therefore making sure of their Championship Pool berth.
Valletta took the initiative right from the start and almost opened the scoring on the 10th minute. From a Nafti cross, Hamza Barry saw his header being excellently turned to corner by Bartolo.
Immediately afterwards, at the other end, it was Balzan who missed a gilt-edged chance when Steve Borg lost the ball to Calcado who passed to Negrin. The latter went past goalie Revishvili only to fire the ball wide with an open goal at his mercy.
In the 16th minute, from a Grioli cross, it was Zarate who blasted the ball wide from just outside the area.
Two minutes later, Hamza Barry set Abayome Seun in the area, but his shot was blocked by a Balzan defender. Moments later, Nafti had a shot going over.
In the 22nd minute, Valletta were unlucky not to open the scoring. Ryan Fenech set Steve Borg on the right flank; the latter advanced to cross low for Hamza Barry to fire a first timer that hit the upright.
Valletta protested in vain for a penalty on the 28th minute when a Mifsud Triganza cross appeared to have been handled in the area by a Balzan defender.
A minute from the interval, Balzan goalie Bartolo was again a great protagonist as he dived sideways to turn to corner a Mifsud Triganza close range header off a Nafti cross.
The second half started on a quiet note, but on the hour a Lydon Micallef angled shot was well saved by Revishvili.
Balzan were again forced on the defensive but they were well organised and the citizens had to wait till the 76th minute to create their first chance of the second half. From a Bajada freekick, it was Mifsud Triganza who headed wide.
At the other end, it was Calcado who set Negrin in the City area, but Revishvili dived at the latter’s feet to avoid an awkward situation for Valletta.
Six minutes from the end, substitute Aziz Corr Nyang finally gave Valletta the lead. He won a ball on the edge of the area and went past two defenders before unleashing a fine rising shot that had Bartolo beaten all ends up.