Valletta defeat Tarxien to remain top

Valletta FC - 5
Tarxien Rainbows FC - 2

The citizens were desperate to regain the three points against Tarxien in a bid to consolidate their leadership of the Premier League.

Coach Leonard Farrugia stuck to the previous Birkirkara confrontation squad, as Tarxien bet on their foreign signings, with special attention to Bueno.

Valletta were strong from the start and created a fine chance on 8 minutes when Dyson Falzon shot a first timer towards keeper Curmi. Two minutes later, Valletta took the lead with a Kevin Sammut free kick that was missed by Curmi who ran out of his goal to find Scerri heading the ball in from an extreme angle.

Tarxien equalised a minute later with Costa heading well placed Grioli corner.

Valletta appeared shocked at the immediate equalizer, and suffered at times as Tarxien regained confidence Costa fired a shot that went just wide.

Another chance for Tarxien was lost on the 26 th minute with Bueno once again shooting just wide of the Valletta net.
Valletta reacted to Rainbow’s onslaught and had a fine chance to regain their lead on the 37th minute, but Dos Santos and Scerri got into each other’s way and lost a golden opportunity. Seconds later, Curmi made a superb save over Falzon, tossing the ball wide of the right post.

Valletta went straight into the lead at the start of the second half with a penalty after Sammut was fouled by Anonam. Scerri converted the kick to put Valletta 2-1 and back into the game.

Here again Tarxien showed tenacity and equalized on in the 57th minute when Bueno defied the offside tactic, and an error from Hogg led to Bueno tapping the ball straight into the net making it 2-2.

Valletta secured their lead 3-2 lead when a confused Tarxien defence couldn’t intercept a high ball across the box, with Sammut finding the net with a low shot.

Valletta placed the cherry on their cake on the 80th minute when Pace scored and practically closed the game, as Scerri made it five registering a personal hat trick.
 

Valletta FC: Hogg A, Borg S (Okonkwo J 77’), Caruana J, Dos Santos R, Azzopardi I, Briffa R, Pace J, Falzon D (Zammit I 88’), Sammut K, Scerri T, Dos Santos D

Tarxien Rainbows FC: Curmi A, Caruana M, Pereira EA (Grech R 21’), Costa R, Pacheco de Oliveira S (Dos Santos R 60’), Tanti M (Calabretta GL 74’), Bueno D M, Vella Critien L, Anonam O, Mintoff R, Grioli J

Referee – Chris Lautier