Floriana, Balzan fire blanks in tight encounter

FLORIANA       0

BALZAN           0

Floriana

G. Kitanov-6, A. Magri Overend-6.5, C. Rutjens-6 (53 Z. Cassar-6), O. El Hasni-6, M. Veselji-5 (65 K. Reid-6), A. Ciolacu-5 (46 L. Trillo-6), F. Juarez-5, O. Spiteri-6, C. Zammit Lonardelli-5 (46 J. Busuttil)-6, K. Nwoko-5 (65 E. Hershkovich-5), L. De Grazia-6.

Balzan

J. Debono-5.5, I. Bozovic-6, S. Arab-6, M. Grima-6 (55 N. Braunovic-6), P. Fenech-6, U. Ljubomirac-6.5, M. Zlatkovic-6, M. Raso-6, Matheus-5, A. Bradshaw-6.5 (70 A. Satariano), B. Kaljevic-6 (76 S. Jalu).

Referee Trustin Farrugia Cann.

Yellow cards Rutjens, Bozovic, Fenech, El Hasni, Grima, Bradshaw, Cassar, Ljubomirac, Trillo.

BOV Player of the match

Floriana and Balzan failed to make significant ground in the Premier League standings as they cancelled each other in a goalless draw.

The match turned out to be a tight affair, particularly in the first half, but after the break both teams had opportunities to take the three points.

Floriana will rue their failure not to win this match, particularly after having three efforts stopped by the woodwork.

On the other hand, Balzan too had their moments with Bojan Kaljevic also denied by the bar from close in.

But in the end both teams had to settle for a point, with Balzan joining Gudja in fifth place with 14 points while Floriana moved up to eighth on nine points.

The match provided left much to be desired for much of the opening 25 minutes as both teams struggled to show any sort of rhythm with scoring chances a rarity.

In fact, for the majority of the time, foul play hampered any hope for either side to build up momentum.

The first scoring chance arrived on 28 minutes when Christian Rutjens saw his dipping header from a free-kick coming off the bar with Balzan goalkeeper Jonathan Debono beaten.

Balzan responded two minutes later when Uros Ljubomirac flicked the ball into the path of Matheus but the Brazilian headed the ball just over.

Two minutes later, Kaljevic played in Ljubomirac but the Serbian winger could not direct the ball past the onrushing Georgi Kitanov.

That was as good as it got in the first half as until the half-time interval there were no other opportunities.

On the restart, Gianluca Atzori roped in Jan Busuttil and Lorenzo Trillo at the expense of Carlo Zammit Lonardelli and Andrei Ciolacu as he looked to add more spark to his team’s forward line.

Busuttil was soon into action as on 48 minutes he picked Kyrian Nwoko who headed over.

Balzan were unlucky on the hour when from a Ljubomirac throw-in the ball fell to Kaljevic who saw his header coming off the bar with Kitanov beaten.

Fifteen minutes from time, the woodwork again came to Balzan’s rescue when Busuttil saw his header slip through the fingers of Debono with the ball coming off the bar.

Balzan responded on 75 minutes with a Paul Fenech shot that flew just over.

Luck was certainly not on Floriana’s side as ten minutes from time De Grazia controlled Kemar Reid’s cross and his thumping shot came off the bar as the stalemate prevails.