Borg, Velasco hand Valletta 2-0 win over Folgore

Valletta defeated SS Folgore Falciano of San Marino 2-0 in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round at the Hibernians Stadium on Thursday.

A result which leaves a good chance for the Citizens to qualify for the next stage where they would be meeting FC Utrecht of the Netherlands.

The Citizens had Henry Bonello and Joseph Zerafa making their debut while Juan Cruz Gill was named in the starting line-up after spending most of the time on the sidelines last season.

Although Valletta held the initiative right from the start, the first shot at goal arrived on the 34th minute with Romeu Romao’s diagonal shot from the right deflected into a corner by goalkeeper Luca Bianchi.

Four minutes from the end of the first half, Valletta finally managed to break the deadlock thanks to Steve Borg following a corner from the left by Uchenna Umeh.

Three minutes in the second half, the Citizens doubled the score thanks to Maxi Velasco who latched on a through pass and advanced into the area before slotting past the Sanmarinese goalkeeper.

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VALLETTA Henry Bonello, Steve Borg, Ryan Camilleri, Juan Cruz Gill, Santiago Malano, Michael Mifsud, Joseph Zerafa, Claudio Pani (90’ Roderick Briffa), Maxi Velasco (64’ Kyrian Nwoko), Uchenna Umeh (81’ Jean Borg), Romeu Romao.

FOLGORE Luca Bianchi, Alberto Semprini, Andrea Nucci, Luca Bezzi, Ramiro Martin Lago, Christofer Genestreti, Alessandro Bianchi (77’ Nicolò Venerucci), Luca Paradisi, Francesco Sartori (85’ Manuel Iuzzolino), Cristian Brolli, Marco Bernardi (83’ Stefano Sacco).

Referee: Denis Scherbakov (BLR)
Assistant Referees: Andrei Getikov, Evgeni Romanov (BLR)
Fourth Official: Victor Shimusik (BLR)
Attendance: 1,141