Aguirre late strike spares Valletta’s blushes
■ Silvio Vella
A late Aguirre free kick on 90 minutes salvaged a point for Valletta as they looked heading towards a damaging defeat against stubborn Tarxien Rainbows. This, though, was a hard fight. Despite all their territorial supremacy, Valletta were trailing their opponents by an Alex Nilsson goal scored short of the hour. The same player fluffed the best of chances 20 minutes later that could have wrapped up the points for Tarxien.
Given a second chance, Valletta got some respite with a late equaliser.
This was Tarxien’s eighth consecutive game without defeat under coach Jesmond Zerafa. And leaves them firmly in the top half of the table.
Valletta stay seven points off leaders Balzan.
After last week’s anaemic draw against St Andrews, the Valletta coach needed to see a demonstration of iron conviction here as well as a cutting edge, especially as Tarxien, although nine points and three places below them, are stubborn opponents.
They gave a start to new Argentine striker Maximiliano Velasco to support Radzinevicius.
The champions defended high up the field and forced Tarxien inside their own half for most of the opening period.
They did so splendidly, abetted by the fact Valletta’s finishing was more scruffy than their smooth build-ups. They struggled to put their efforts on target, with tries from Uchenna, Velasco, Malano, and Muscat, mostly from a distance, all going astray.
Their only shot on target in the first half came from an Aguirre direct free kick, straight at goalkeeper Schranz, three minutes before the break.
A notable absentee for Tarxien yesterday was their wide player Alex Alves, who was suspended and that deprived the Rainbows of some inventive. They rarely ventured into enemy territory. When Azzopardi crossed from the right, Valletta keeper Bartkus dropped the ball when challenged by Ponce, but Prendes’ effort, on the loose ball, was blocked.
But Valletta remained in charge and continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession even after the restart.
Tarxien defended tigerishly though. Pani, highly involved in his side’s buildups, played a dangerous ball inside the Tarxien area but keeper Schranz reached out before Velasco. On Uchenna’s cross, Baker reached before Velasco to clear into a corner.
Anxiety grew among the Valletta fans in the face of Tarxien’s disciplined resistance and Valletta’s imprecision when push came to shove.
And when many thought Valletta would imminentlybreak the deadlock, the goal came on the other end. Short of the hour, Alex Nilsson took possession on the edge of the Valletta area, steadied himself and beat keeper Bartkus with a low drive that hit the innerside of the post.
Valletta were rattled. Radzinevicius missed the target as he pounced on an Aguirre cross from near the byeline.
Coach Paul Zammit introduced also Luke Montebello in the Valletta attack. Tarxien later put in Julian Galea for the hard working Ponce.
Past the hour, a short Camilleri back pass put his goalkeeper in an embarassing position as he tried to foot the ball upfield, hit Nilsson and as the ball was trickling over the line, Bartkus recovered in time.
Valletta’s rearguard was caught totally exposed on 76 minutes. Triston Caruana played the ball square to the unmarked Nilsson who contrived to miss the target and the chance to put the match to bed.
Luckily, Valletta were still in the game. They were all over their opponents in the final minutes, although they looked utterly confused in their offensive play, seemingly convinced that persistence would pay.
Tarxien looked capable of holding their nerves until Valletta were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Tarxien area with 90 minutes on the clock. Leandro Aguirre stepped up to beat keeper Schranz with a powerful low drive and avoid a damaging defeat for the champions.