Rabat A.-Floriana 0-5

Rabat A: J. Azzopardi, S. Gauci, D. Azzopardi, I. Carapic, J. Caruana, Z. Tanti, A. Azzopardi (C. Vella), W. Borg (Stefan Cortis), D. Pendas, R. Micallef, M. Licari

Floriana: D. Hanford, A. Scicluna, I. Edet, S. Pisani (L. Casha), C. Caruana, I. Coronado, D. Pinheiro, J. Xerri, C. Borg, J. Borg (D. Baldacchino), G. Muir (B. Farrugia)

Referee: K. Kennedy (N. Ireland)

Asst.refs: G. Hegarty, J. Thompson

4th official: T. Marshall

Scorers: S. Pisani 3, I. Coronado 9, G. Muir 80 pen, D. Pinheiro 90, 90+

Yellow cards: J. Caruana

Red card: R. Micallef

Player of the match: I. Coronado (Floriana)

TMI top three: 1. D. Pinheiro  2. I. Coronado  3. S. Pisani

Floriana obtained an easy win against bottom side Rabat Ajax on an afternoon they needed to break no sweat, as they move comfortably towards safety and push their miserable opponents closer to the drop.

Floriana, helped by two early goals and three more in the late stages against ten-man Rabat for the entire second half, are now seven points away from the danger zone, which should suffice to retain their Premier status.

By full time, the Magpies were a weary lot with the excellent Diogo Pinheiro influential in that. Again there was lack of fight from the Premier’s bottom club. On this form, Steve D’Amato’s men look condemned.

But on occasions such as this, when the teams’ glances are inevitably fixed towards next season already, any assessment would be superfluous.

Rabat, already handicapped with injuries to Daniel Pelaez, Sorin Oproescu and skipper Dylan Falzon, the suspension of Jonathan Bajada and the absence of the unwell goalkeeper Velimirovic, had a makeshift look yesterday as Zacchary Tanti was entrusted a central defensive role alongside Carapic, with Joseph Caruana moving in midfield.

Wayne Borg, Aiden Azzopardi and wide players Licari and Pendas tried to hold the Rabat midfield but were often outplayed and outmuscled by their opponents and lack of quality in the final third prevented them from converting pressure into at least one goal.

Floriana immediately took control and scored the opener after hardly three minutes on the clock. Steve Pisani picked up his spot from the edge of the Rabat area on the right and beat keeper Jonathan Azzopardi with a stunning shot at the top right hand corner.

Six minutes later Floriana doubled their lead. Igor Coronado outpaced defender Gauci on a through pass inside the Rabat area and slammed the ball beyond the helpless keeper Azzopardi.

Pendas was presented with a solid chance to pull one back for the Magpies on the quarter hour with a meaty free kick from the edge of the area. The Floriana keeper Hanford stretched himself to turn the ball around the post into a corner.

But it was all Floriana again after that and although they did not put up much effort, the Greens could defend their lead with minimal difficulty. Coronado had a couple of tries off target and, with halftime looming, Pinheiro played a through pass through the middle for Coronado. The Rabat keeper saved his grounder.

Rabat suffered a further setback within one minute of the second half. They had striker Micallef sent off for a reckless tackle on Caruana in midfield, shown straight red by Irish referee Kennedy.

Enjoying numerical superiority, Floriana had the bulk of the play, but struggled to fashion anything of quality for most of the second half. They only increased their lead, to make it a more emphatic win, with three more goals in the final ten minutes.

Muir’s free kick on 79 minutes was headed against the foot of the post by Andre Scicluna and the same Floriana defender won a penalty a minute later when felled by Caruana inside the area. Gary Muir converted from the spot and four minutes later Muir again clipped the Rabat post.

On 90 minutes the Rabat keeper parried Coronado’s shot but the Brazilian passed the loose ball to the unmarked Diogo Pinheiro who stabbed it into an unattended goal.

Two minutes into added time, Pinheiro again scored for Floriana, after going past Gauci and Tanti on the left and beating the keeper at the near post from the byeline to pile more misery on the Magpies.