Matchday 11: Valletta 0 Balzan 0
16/12/2023
Valletta and Balzan shared the spoils in a 0-0 result.
Valletta went close in the twelfth minute. After a corner given by Paiber, Garba saw his header go wide.
Balzan replied in the 20th minute through Katanic whose shot was received by Galea without too much difficulty.
A minute later, Awosanya passed the ball well to Paul Fenech whose shot from distance went wide.
Valletta missed a great chance in the twenty-fifth minute. Substitute Jhonnattann Benites received a fine pass in the box and forced a good save from the Balzan goalkeeper. From the same action, Garba passed to Vega whose shot was blocked from the line by Prates.
Seconds later, there was a shot by City captain Shaun Dimech that was met by Golovic.
In the thirty-eighth minute, Valletta were back a shot by Prestes from inside the box, only to fail to square the posts.
A minute before the end of the first half, there was a shot by Awosanya from Balzan from the edge of the box that was saved by Galea in two attempts so that both sides came to rest in a 0-0 tie.
Balzan created the first action towards the goal in the second half. After a cross from Awosanya, Katanic had a header that went wide.
Valletta missed another opportunity in the fifty-seventh minute. Benites tries to finish from inside the box, with the ball ending up on Garba’s side who was caught and did not manage to finish.
Moments later, there was a shot by Paiber of Valletta from distance that went centimeters wide.
Valletta continued to insist. In the sixty-sixth minute, there was a central shot from Benites’ box that was blocked by Golovic.
In the eighty-second minute, Owosanya of Balzan shot from distance, only the ball went high.
Valletta missed another great chance in the ninety minutes. Paiber received a good ball from Garba and shot low from close range; however, the ball did not end in the net.
Valletta: Jake Galea, Juan Bolanos, Enzo Ruiz, Fernando Barrientos, Shaun Dimech (Alfred Silas), Federico Falcone (Jhonnattann Benites), Brandon Paiber, Victor Luiz Prestes, Federico Vega, Neil Micallef, David Garba
Balzan: Danilo Golovic, Ivan Bozovic, Andre Prates, Samir Arab (Diego Farrugia-89), Paul Fenech, Jake Grech, Dimeji Awosanya, Ryhoe Michibuchi (Benjamin Hili), Aleksandar Katanic (Peter Olawele), Nikola Braunovic (Triston Caruana), Momcilo Raso.
Yellow cards: V. Luiz, N. Mcallef (V) I. Bozovic, M. Raso (B).
Referee: Matthew Degabriele
BOV Player of the Match: Brandon Paiber (V)
