Dos Santos penalty enough for Valletta

place to 10th, remaining on 15 points, three behind Mosta.

At the end of the first 45 minutes, it was evident that Valletta were frustrated as they were not able to pierce a well organised Senglea side which never looked inferior to their more experienced opponents.

The Yellow Reds, in fact, only limited the citizens to a few shots from the distance and these were ably handled by goalie Farrugia.

On their part, Senglea also had some well orchestrated attacks which, however, provided only one anxious moment to the City defence. They played the ball well along the field, but they lacked the finishing touch.

In the second half, Valletta again held the edge in midfield, but could only score from a penalty even if they deserved the lead which eventually meant victory.

Despite their dominance, Valletta found it difficult to go past a well drilled defence, so much so that Senglea goalie Farrugia was never seriously tested apart from suffering the goal from the penalty spot.

The match had a balanced start, but Valletta had more of the possession. On 14 minutes, Senglea goalie Farrugia did well to save a Dos Santos freekick before Romau could connect.

On the 20th minute, as Valletta insisted in attack, it was Zerafa and Mifsud who tested Farrugia, but the goalie dealt with the shots confidently.

In the 26th minute, Valletta went closest to opening the score. From an Uchenna Calistus cross, Albert Prosa saw his close range flick go straight into Farrugia’s waiting hands.

In the 29th minute, Senglea protested in vain for a penalty when Sammut ended on the ground after a tackle by Zerafa in the area, but the official, close to the incident, waved play on.

In the 34th minute, the Senglea goalie had to rush out of his area to clear a dangerous ball as Mifsud was advancing towards the goal.

Two minutes later, Farrugia was again a protagonist as he dived sideways to stop a Denni dos Santos effort.

In the 40th minute, from a dos Santos cornerkick, it was Malano who headed just wide.

Two minutes later, at the other end, Bonello also had to dive sideways to save an Ivan Paz freekick.

Senglea had their best chance on 56 minutes, when Caseres advanced into the City area, but his shot went wide.

At the other end, soon after, Valletta were awarded a penalty when a Calistus cross appeared to have been handled by a Senglea defender. From the spotkick, Denni Rocha dos Santos made no mistake.

After the goal, Valletta did not risk much even if Senglea pressed hard to try and get an equaliser near the end.

Photo: Christine Borg