BOV Premier League | Valletta 1 – Tarxien Rainbows 0

Conscious that they are close on winning their second successive Premier League, Valletta started the match eager to secure the three points in order to remain on the forefront.

Valletta made their intentions clear from the start and went close after just 2 minutes. Kyrian Nwoko fired a shot from distance that ended up slightly high.

The Citizens threatened again on the 9th minute. Following a defensive mistake, Mario Fontanella’s effort was blocked by Maverick Buhagiar.

Fontanella managed to score for Valletta on the 18th minute; however, the assistant referee judged him to be in an offside position and raised his flag.

Valletta broke the deadlock on the 29th minute. Miguel Angel Alba unleashed a powerful shot from distance that went past Buhagiar.

Following this goal, Valletta kept on dominating, but were unable to threaten Tarxien again as the first half ended 1-0 in favour of Valletta.

The tempo of the match slowed down drastically during the second half. Valletta remained in control; however, they didn’t create many chances on goal.

In fact, supporters had to wait till the 70th minute to witness Valletta's only chance on goal during the second half. Santiago Malano played Fontanella through on goal, but the Italian saw his final effort being blocked by Buhagiar.

Tarxien had a great chance to equalise during the additional time. Following a corner, Daniel Zerafa's effort from close range was blocked by Henry Bonello.

Despite this, Valletta did what they had to do as they left the pitch with a 1-0 victory that puts them on the brink of another title.

Valletta starting line-up: Henry Bonello, Jonathan Caruana, Ryan Camilleri, Santiago Malano, Kyrian Nwoko, Jean Borg (Antonio Monticelli-85), Enmy Pena Beltre, Joseph Zerafa (Bogdan Gavrila-69), Rowen Muscat, Miguel Angel Alba, Mario Fontanella (Nicholas Pulis- 89)

Tarxien Rainbows starting line-up: Maverick Buhagiar, Marco Botta, Daniel Zerafa, Matthew Spiteri, Gabriel Aquilina, Luke Grech, Destin Mambouana, Anderson De Barros, Miguel Ciantar, Ricardo Silva Faria (Darren Falzon-85), Alexander Nilsson (Andrew Agius- 75)

Referee: Stefan Pace

Assistant Referees: Roberto Vella, William Debattista

Fourth Official: Philip Farrugia

BOV Player of the Match: Miguel Angel Alba (Valletta)