Rabat and Qormi in goalless draw as Valletta are back on track

Rabat Ajax - 0
Qormi - 0

Karel Zeman, the son of former Roma coach Zdenek Zeman made his debut as the coach of Qormi.
The first real goal scoring opportunity arrived on the 23rd minute when Joao Gabriel da Silva had his shot go over the crossbar.
Seven minutes later it was Rabat that had a good chance to score. Malcolm Licari served Ryan Micallef who then had his shot from close range saved by goalkeeper Matthew Farrugia.
Moments later Jonathan Bondin had his powerful shot saved by Rabat’s goalkeeper Pavle Velimirovic.
Both teams continued to have good scoring opportunities but neither side could find the back of the net.
Rabat’s Diego Carrillo Pendas had his powerful freekick scrape past the post seven minutes into the second half. Immediately afterwards, Rabat missed another scoring opportunity when Ryan Micallef headed high.
Rabat missed a great chance to score the opening goal of the match on the 59th minute when off a corner, Malcom Licari’s header was cleared off the goal line by a defender.
Both teams would regret their missed goal scoring opportunities as they had to settle for a draw with Qormi remaining in ninth place while Rabat remain at the bottom of the table.

RABAT AJAX Pavle Velimirovic, Shaun Gauci, David Azzopardi, Dylan Falzon, Ivan Carapic, Daniel Pelaez Bellido, Diego Carrillo Pendas, Joseph Caruana, Malcolm Licari (73’Aidan Azzopardi), Ryan Micallef (90’ Chris Vella), Jonathan Bajada.
Subs not used: Jonathan Azzopardi, Patrick Borg, Etienne Scicluna, Zachary Tanti, Sacha Cortis.
Coach: Steve D’Amato

QORMI Matthew Farrugia, Alfred Effiong, Ryan Sammut, Roderick Bajada, Joao Gabriel da Silva, Triston Caruana, Christian Terribile, Duncan Pisani, Jonathan Bondin, Marco Petrassi, Abudulai Issaka (59’ Gianluca Nucera).
Subs not used: Steve Sultana, Terence Abela, Karl Sciortino, Gilmore Azzopardi, Owen Bugeja, Dylan Pirotta.
Coach: Karel Zeman

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi
Assistant Referees: Duncan Sultana, Roberto Vella
Fourth Official: Andre Arciola
Yellow Cards: R. Micallef
BOV Player of the Match: Ryan Micallef

Valletta - 2
Tarxien Rainbows - 1

Valletta returned to winning ways after they registered a 2-1 victory over Tarxien Rainbows. With this victory, Valletta sit just one point behind leaders Birkirara who however have a game in hand.
This defeat added more misery to Tarxien as it was their fourth defeat in five matches and they remain third from the bottom in the BOV Premier League standings.
The match could not have started any worse for Tarxien as Valletta took the lead just after two minutes of play. A cross by Jason Lee Vandelanoitte was not cleared and that left the door open for Dennis Rocha dos Santo’s to have his powerful shot beat goalkeeper Nicky Vella.
On the 30th minute, Valletta’s Shaun Bajada was unlucky to score when his shot hit the woodwork.
Valletta started the second half as they did in the first, scoring early. On the 12th minute a direct freekick by Abdelkarim Nafti beat goalkeeper Nicky Vella to make the score 2-0 for Valletta.
Tarxien started to produce more scoring opportunities to try to salvage their match.
On the 64th minute, Karl Pulo failed to connect when he received a perfect cross by Carlos Menendez Hevia.
On the 71st minute, Tarxien came close to scoring again when a shot by Jorge Santos Silva was partially saved by goalkeeper Yenz Cini and off the rebound, Miguel Ciantar shot hit the side of the net.
Tarxien managed to reduce Valletta’s lead on the 88th minute when off a cross, Marko Potezica headed the ball past Yenz Cini to make the score 2-1.

VALLETTA Yenz Cini, Edmond Agius, Roderick Briffa, Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza (72’ Ian Zammit), Oscar Reyes Sanchez, Hamza Barry (76’ Ian Azzopardi), Shaun Bajada, Denni Rocha dos Santos, Jason Lee Vandelanoitte, Abdelkarim Nafti (85’ Llywelyn Cremona), Luke Dimech.
Subs not used: Pietro Demetrio Marino, Daniel Camilleri, Matthew Thorne, Isaac McCarthy.
Coach: Mark Miller

TARXIEN RAINBOWS Nicky Vella, Carlo Mamo, Manuel Caruana (68’ Luke Zahra), Fernando Lopez Alcantara, Andrew Agius, Marko Potezica, Miguel Ciantar (78’ Go Nagaoka), Carlos Menendez Hevia, Karl Pulo (78’ Nigel Vella), Josef Mifsud, Jorge Santos Silva.
Subs not used: Anthony Curmi, Nigel Vella II, Matthew Cassar, Clive Aquilina.
Asst. Coach: Steven Vella

Referee: Paul Caruana
Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Chris Francalanza
Fourth Official: Malcolm Spiteri
Yellow Cards: Briffa, Lopes Alcantara, Menendez Hevia
Scorers: 2’ Denni Rocha dos Santos (V); 58’ Abdelkarim Nafti (V); 89’Marko Potezica (T)
BOV Player of the Match: Denni Rocha dos Santos