Five wins in a row for Valletta

Champions Valletta made it five wins in a row as they hit four past Pietà Hotspurs at the Centenary Stadium on Saturday.

A win which puts the Citizens four points behind leaders Gzira United. For Pietà, this was the fourth defeat in seven matches, leaving them third from bottom on five points.

Valletta coach Danilo Doncic made two changes from the team which defeated Balzan as Ryan Camilleri and Santiago Malano replaced Jean Borg and Enmy Pena Beltre. The Hotspurs, on the other hand, had one change from the team which defeated Mosta as Gabriel Mensah was preferred to Paul Chimezie.

Photo: Copyright © Andrew Grima

Valletta took the lead on the 11th minute when Mario Fontanella, served by Miguel Angel Alba from the right, beat Nicky Vella with a low shot from inside the area.

The Citizens doubled the score on the 23rd thanks to Mario Fontanella who headed the ball home off a cross by Alba from the right.

Five minutes later, Matteo Piciollo’s powerful drive from outside the area was blocked by Vella and Bojan Kaljevic headed the ball home off the rebound.

Valletta made it 4-0 on the 32nd minute thanks to a Miguel Angel Alba penalty after Mario Fontanella was brought down inside the area by Antonio Orlando Macedo Neto.

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PIETÀ Nicky Vella, Takaki Ose, Travis Bartolo, Neil Pace Cocks, Jan Busuttil (85′ Quincy Bregman), Gabriel Mensah, Juan Manuel Artiaga Roa (57′ Dylan Agius), Christian Grech, Shunsuke Nakamura (76′ Nicholas Pisani), Ishaya Irimiya Jalo, Antonio Orlando Macedo Neto.
Subs not used: Jacob Chircop St John, Christian Degabriele, Paul Chimezie, Ayrton Mizzi.
Coach: Ramon Zammit
Asst. Coach: Mark Vella

VALLETTA Henry Bonello, Steve Borg (46′ Jonathan Caruana), Ryan Camilleri, Santiago Malano, Matteo Piciollo, Joseph Zerafa (76′ Jean Borg), Raed Ibrahim Saleh, Rowen Muscat, Miguel Angel Alba, Bojan Kaljevic (68′ Bogdan Gavrila), Mario Fontanella.
Subs not used: Yenz Cini, Russell Fenech, Kyrian Nwoko, Nicholas Pulis.
Coach: Danilo Doncic
Asst. Coach: Gilbert Agius

Referee: Darryl Agius
Assistant Referees: Roberto Vella, Paul Apap
Fourth Official: Emanuel Grech
Yellow Cards: Tony, Zerafa
BOV Player of the Match: Miguel Angel Alba