Matchday 12: Valletta 1 Naxxar L. 2
07/01/2024
Naxxar Lions got their fifth win of the season when they beat Valletta 2-1 to climb to sixth place in the table.
Four minutes and 30 seconds and Naxxar already in the lead: action on the right line by Maicon se Souza who threw a cross into the box, two Naxxar players fail to hit the ball which nevertheless ends up in legs of Takuma Yamaguchi, with the Japanese avoiding the direct opponent and firing a shot from the edge of the box to the corner of the net.
In the 18th minute Valletta had a shot by Victor Prestes Filho that went a little high over the crossbar: and with half an hour of play Naxxar made it two. Diun ran this time to the left of Yamaguchi, a ball towards Pablo Augusto in the box who crossed back to Edson Farias.
With the first half ending 2-0 for Naxxar, the second one opened in the best way for Valletta who reduced the score after less than two minutes. Federico Falcone was thrown from a pole to the cross from the line and with his head he threw it past Mathias Debono for his sixth seasonal goal.
The Lions created two good chances from Pablo Augusto who in two minutes first saw Jake Galea raise the shot on his run for a corner.
On the other side, in the 57th minute, a good chance for Shaun Dimech but he shot outside of an ideal position from Paiber’s cross.
In the 69th minute, Valletta narrowly failed to equalize when, in an insistent action, Paiber’s header collided with the top of the crossbar and the final shot grazed the post.
Valletta kept trying until the end but their efforts were in vain.
Valletta: J. Galea, J. Bolanos, E. Ruiz, F. Barrientos (A. Silas), S. Dimech (J. Azzopardi), F. Falcone, B. Paiber, V. Filho, F. Vega (S. Ferraris), N. Micallef (D. Nogueira), J. Benites (D. Garba)
Naxxar Lions: M. Debono, N. Micallef, F. Barbosa, N. Pace Cocks, P. Augusto Servo de Carvalho, E. Farias, R. Cassar, T. Yamaguchi (R. Rendon), Elizeu, M. de Souza da Silva, J. Moura Cardoso.
Yellow cards: N. Micallef, N. Pace Cocks (N), F. Falcone (V).
Scorers: 5′ T. Yamaguchi, E. Farias (N) 48′ F. Falcone (V)
Referee: Slobodan Petrovic
BOV Player of the match:
Photo credits: TVM sport
