Floriana coach Atzori rues missed chances against Petrocub

Gianluca Atzori was left to rue his team’s missed chances as Floriana were held to a goalless draw by Moldovan side Petrocub in the first qualifying round, first leg tie from the UEFA Conference League at the Centenary Stadium on Thursday.

The Greens dominated the match for long stretches but despite creating several chances they failed to put the ball into the net to keep tie still in the balance ahead of next week’s second leg in Moldova.

“We have dominated the match from start to finish but unfortunately we did everything right bar scoring goals,” Atzori told the Times of Malta.

“I was really pleased with the performance of my players who were in control right from the outset and no doubt had we won the match 2-0 we would have not stolen anything.

“But in football, you don’t have just to play well but also score goals. It’s disappointing not to win but at the same time it will increase the determination of my players to go on and win the tie in Moldova next week.”

The Floriana coach said that despite the final stalemate there were still a lot of positives to take from Thursday’s match.

“The team played very well,” Atzori said.

“We practically didn’t concede a single scoring chance to our opponent and that is very encouraging. Now it’s important to analyse well where we can improve to ensure we finish the job next week.”

Atzori said that qualification to the next round will be very important for his club and hopes that he will be able to bring in more reinforcements ahead of the start of the Premier League campaign.

“I am pleased with the squad of players I have at my disposal,” Atzori said.

“But we still lack two or three players to add more strength-in-depth to our squad. The club is working hard to bring in reinforcements but sometimes negotiations take time.

“If you look at our squad from last season we have lost some key players and it will be important that we try and replace them. Hopefully, we will have some new additions in the coming weeks.”