Day 31 Valletta 1 Floriana 0 Published on: 05-05-2012

Valletta proved themselves as worthy champions with a hard-fought win over
Floriana this afternoon.

The Greens had started brightly but they looked a disjointed side from the moment Edmond Agius rose unmarked to head the Lilywhites into the lead. Play was already swinging from end to end and in the 10th minute, Manolito
Micallef's cross was met by Caruana whose downward header was blocked by Andrew Hogg.

Ten minutes later, Pablo Doffo was high with a free-kick as Floriana were showing better ideas early on.

In the 25th minute, Sodje displayed some deft footwork to frustrate Briffa and Steve Borg on the left flank before putting in a teasing cross with Woods hitting high over the bar.

On the other side, Michael Mifsud's progression tormented Patrick Jensen, the Floriana goalkeeper who looked well-placed to avert the danger but his hesitancy was almost punished the nippy striker who pounced on the loose ball but Farrugia blocked his effort.

However, Valletta took the lead with their first serious venture on the Floriana goal when Zongo from the right flank drove the ball long to the head of Edmond Agius.

The midfielder arrived late and unmarked to head the ball into the roof of the net past Jensen after 38 minutes. The second half continued in the same manner with Floriana enjoying the lion's share of possession but still lacking the cutting edge.

Indeed, shots were at a premium and just before the hour mark, Zongo found himself in an excellent position outside the box to fire narrowly over with a long-range effort.

Zerafa moved to strengthen his forward line by introducing Terence Scerri. With the former Hibernians striker taking over upfront, Mifsud threw all his weight behind the striker, roaming in the middle to put Floriana on the rocks.

Now with Mifsud a bustling presence in the centre of the field alongside Zongo and Briffa, Valletta were in complete control. Two excellent chances dropped to the former Coventry striker in quick succession as his gift for timing his sprint confound Floriana's defence.

After 77 minutes, he pulled away from his marker to dart through the defence to put low on the Dutch goalkeeper.

Then, in the 83rd minute, he scampered through the middle of the park to meet a ball from a centre by Zongo to curl a centre which was saved by Jensen.  were some late drama late on as Jensen went up for a free-kick by Doffo, leaving his goal unattended. Hogg fisted away the ball as the Valletta defence belted the ball forward but the referee saved further embarrassment on the Floriana as he blew the whistle.
Source: timesofmalta.com

VALLETTA - A. Hogg, D. Dos Santos (S. Panadetiguiri, J. Caruana, I. Azzopardi, O. Zongo (A. Effiong), S. Borg, G. Agius (T. Scerri),  W. Barbosa,  R. Briffa, E. Agius, M. Mifsud.

FLORIANA  - P. Jansen, I. Woods (J. Mintoff), M. Micallef, T. Paris, O. Bugeja, E. Akoto (B. Farrugia), T. Farrugia, P. Doffo, C. Borg, O. Sodje, C. Caruana (D. Pisani).

BOV Premier League
Date: 05-05-12     Time: 18:00    Venue: National Stadium

Scorers: 38' Edmond Agius

Yellow Cards: T. Paris (F)

Man of Match: Ousseni Zongo (V)

Referee: Fyodor Zammit