Malano floors vulnerable Spartans
Inspired by the skill and pace of their Argentine midfielder Santiago Malano, Valletta overcame Hamrun Spartans with two second half goals from Umeh Uchenna and Malano, to move into third place, five points behind leaders Hibernians.
Hamrun suffered a severe setback when, on the quarter hour, their captain Jake Grech withdrew with a muscle problem and that complicated matter further.
It took a whole half hour for the Hamrun keeper David Cassar to be called into action as he saved Velasco’s shot from the edge of the Hamrun area. Cassar was equal to task nine minutes later as he easily saved Aguirre’s central free kick.
Hamrun looked menacing shortly before the break. The Valletta keeper Bartkus dropped a high ball when challenged by Manset. The Hamrun forward managed to put a foot to the loose ball but Caruana blocked his effort into a corner.
The pattern of the match did not change much after the restart but the second 45 minutes looked brighter for Valletta. On 54 minutes Malano set Romao through but the Valletta defender, who yesterday played in a more advanced midfield role, shot against the side netting.
With Malano becoming more influential on the game, the champions managed to break the deadlock towards the hour. The Valletta midfielder played the ball square from the right. It fell to the unmarked Umeh Uchenna who struck low paast the helpless goalkeeper.
Predictably Valletta began playing with more confidence and authority after that lead. On 66 minutes Hamrun again failed to clear their lines on another Malano cross, this time from the left, the ball bounced invitingly for Velasco, blazed his shot wastefully over.
A minute later Malano hit the Hamrun bar with a rasping shot from outside the area before the Spartans were undone by Valletta’s second goal on 73 minutes.
An Aguirre cross from the left was cleared short by the Hamrun defence and Santiago Malano crowned a five-star performance with a goal himself, hitting in at the roof of the net.