Matchday 04: Valletta 2 Floriana 0
16/09/2025
Valletta ended a five-year wait and overcame their neighbouring rivals, Floriana, in a hard-fought derby at the National Stadium.
It was a deserved victory for the Citizens, who were the better side throughout the 90 minutes, but surely their win was aided by the early dismissal of Floriana midfielder Charles M’Mwomba, who left the Greens playing practically the whole match with ten men.
Despite having a player more on the pitch, Thane Micallef’s men needed to be patient to break down a resilient Floriana side.
But once Yuri Messias fired them ahead midway through the second half there was no way back for Floriana, who ended the match with nine men as Valletta went on to add a second goal and seal their second successive win of the season.
Floriana’s hopes of victory suffered a major blow after nine minutes when, in a quick transition, Jefferson de Assis was upended by Charles M’Mombwa, who was Floriana’s last player, and stopped a clear scoring opportunity to end up dismissed by referee Philip Farrugia.
On 21 minutes, Valletta had a golden opportunity to take the lead when Sava Radic burst inside the area and sent a low cross, which, however, was not connected by Jefferson in front of a gaping goal.
The Citizens continued to dominate the match, but scoring chances remained few and far between.
Jefferson should have given Valletta the lead on 42 minutes when he was put clear on goal and the Brazilian anticipated the onrushing goalkeeper, but his shot was cleared off the line by the backtracking Floriana defender Lucas Lopez.
Early in the second half, Floriana almost profited from a defensive mix-up by the Citizens as Rui Areias latched on to a long ball but fired wide with only Adilson Maringa to beat.
The Greens were quickly punished for missing that opportunity as on 58 minutes, Messias picked up a flick by Jefferson and unleashed a firm low drive that gave no chance to Cioletti.
Floriana were rattled and Messias had the chance to kill off the match five minutes from time but fired over with only Cioletti to beat.
Floriana endured more frustration in the closing stages when substitute Mattija Veselji fell inside the area but the referee waved away his protests and was initially cautioned for simulation.
However, fourth official Matthew Degabriele, noted to the referee that Veselji had already been booked and immediately dismissed the Floriana forward to leave the Greens finishing the match with nine men.
Valletta made the most of their double-man advantage as deep into stoppage time their two substitutes combined as Andrea Zammit fed the unmarked Andrea Ciolacu who fired home to send his fans into ecstasy.
Source: Times of Malta
VALLETTA: A. Aguero dos Santos, S. Borg, B. Paiber, Y. Yankam (J. Azzopardi), S. Brewer JR, N. Micallef (M. Mbende), Y. Messias (A. Ciolacu), S. Radic, T. Aldama, J. De Assis (A. Zammit), J. Mendoza Usuga.
FLORIANA: G. Ferreira Da Silva, L. Lopez Dessypris, J. Grech, F. Varela Escudero, D. Vella (Z. Scerri), O. Spiteri, F. Coelho Teixeira, K. M’Mombwa, G. Gamarra (M. Veselji), I. Mendonca, R. Areias (M. Jah).
Scorers: 59′ Y. Messias, 94′ A. Ciolacu (V)
Yellow Cards: S. Borg, N. Micallef, S. Radic (V), J. Grech, D. Vella (F).
Red Cards: K. M’Mombwa, M. Veselji (F).
Referee: P. Farrugia
Man of the Match: Y. Messias
