Floriana 0
Vitoria 1
Floriana: Mafoumbi, Garzia, El Hasni, Spiteri, Kouros, Fernandinho, Vella, Grech, Garcia, Thiaguinho, Reid
Vitoria SC: Varela, Costa, Oliveira Fernandes, Borevkovic, Mendes, Tiago Silva, Handel, Santos, Jota Silva, Oliveira, Mangas
Referee: Ben MacMaster (N. Ireland)
A soft goal scored twelve minutes from time by Jota Silva foiled Floriana’s gallant display yesterday against Vitoria Guimareas in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.
Vitoria were arguably the better team, holding possession for much of the time, but the Greens defendd well and had some very good scoring opportunities.
The Greens surely deserved a draw from this game, a draw which would been a just reward for their very good overall performance.
In the opening stages two good scoring opportunities for Floriana, both created by Kemar Reid, one of the best on the field.
In his first move he passed towards Thiaguiho who failed to connect, and in the second he passed towards Jake Grech who shot slighlty over the bar from an ideal position.
Vitoria had nothing to show in the first half for their territorial superiority with goalkeeper Mafoumbi never seiously tested.
At the start of the second half Floriana again had some interesting moves upfront, but as minutes ticked, Vitoria increased their tempo and Floriana were forced to defend, sometimes in apparent difficulty.
However Floriana had a golden opportunity when Thiaguinho passed towards Reid who was about to tap in an empty net, but was anticipated by an Alberto desperate tackle.
The inclusion of Ramirez, Samu and Kaio Cesar just past the hour tipped the balance in favour of the Portuguese side.
Cesar had a couple of attempts well saved by the Floriana custodian, and then on 78 minutes the goal that broke Floriana’s hearts.
A long ball towards Jota Silva caught Garzia and goalkeeper Mafoumbi napping and the Portuguese striker nipped in to anticipate Mafoumbi and put the ball at the back of the net.
This goal was knock-out blow for the Greens who never recovered as Vitoria easily preserved their lead, a lead which practically puts them through to the third qualifying round of the competition.
Sliema humiliated in Armenia
FC Noah 7
Sliema W 0
FC Noah: Cancarevic, Miljkovic, Pablo, Silva, Thorarinsson, Avanesyan, Gambos, Manvelyan, Cinari, Gregorio, Pinson
Sliema Wanderers: Bender, Gustavo Alcino, Murilo Henrique, Borg, Overend, Minala, Zibo, Beerman, Acheampong, Pisani, Plut
Referee: Jitari (Moldova)
Sliema’s return to European football after a ten-year absence, was a nightmare as the Wanderers suffered a humiliating 0-7 defeat at the hands of practically unknown side from Armenia, FC Noah.
Noah already led by three goals in the first half, and added four further goals in the second half to register an impressive victory, a victory which makes the return leg in Malta next week a mere formality.
Pinson opened the score on 19 minutes and Gregorio scored a brace on 28 and 31 minutes to give Noah a 3-0 half time lead.
On the resumption the music did not change much with goals arriving at regular intervals.
Portuguese player Gregorio proved to be Noah’s hero as he notched his hat trick eleven minutes into the second half.
Cinari scored the fifth goal on 72 minutes and sixty seconds later the Wanderers were also unlucky when Alcino scored an own goal.
The seventh and final goal came on 90 minutes and was scored Ferreira.
In the previous round FC Noah eliminated Shkendia 2-0 and 2-1 for a 4-1 aggregate victory.
This is only the third participation of FC Noah in a european competition and yesterday’s win against Sliema is surely their best ever european win.
FC Noah was founded as FC Artsakh in 2017 and played its first match in a goalless draw against FC Banants on 2 June 2017.
Noah played its first competitive season in the 2017–18 Armenian First League, finishing second and achieving promotion to the Armenian Premier League.
After a disappointing 8th-place finish in the 2018–19 season, the club was sold to Karen Abrahamyan, who rebranded the club FC Noah in 2019.