SIRENS 1
Borg 90
BALZAN 3
Torres 46, 87; Kaljevic 57
SIRENS
M. Grech-4, R. Tachikawa-5, S. Cipriott-5 (59 A.Vella), A. Borg-5, J. Walker-5, A. Cini-5, R. Duarte-5 (85 M. Maggi), V. Bento-6, I. Kolev-4, D. Jackson-4, S. Arab-5 (59 K. Sano).
BALZAN
J. Debono-6, S. Arab-,6 M. Grima-6.5, P. Fenech-6 (85 Z. Grech), A. Torres-8, N. Zerjal-6, A. Satariano-6 (44 B. Kaljevic-7), N. Braunovic-6, M. Raso-6, M. de Sousa-6 (71 C Ndinga), A. Andrejic-6 (86 B. Mladenovic).
Referee: Glen Tonna.
Yellow card: Samir Arab.
BOV player of the match: Angel Torres (Balzan).
Balzan’s purple patch continued on Sunday as Angel Torres struck twice in the second half as Oliver Spiteri’s side stylishly outplayed Sirens at the Tony Bezzina Stadium to stay on course for a European football berth next season.
Sitting fourth in the Premier League standings alongside Mosta and Hibernians, Balzan are on the back of a seven-match unbeaten run, Balzan yesterday beat Sirens 3-1 with a second-half rally.
The Columbian striker broke the deadlock one minute after the interval as the Reds continued to dominate the match to finish worthy winners.
Oliver Spiteri had included Jonathan Debono, Alex Satariano, Nikola Zerjal, Nicola Braunovic, and Matheus de Sousa Nogureira in his starting line-up. Those four players had missed Balzan’s FA Trophy match against Birkirkara in midweek.
Balzan’s best chances in the first half fell to Matheus de Sousa Nogureira.
Balzan made the brighter start in the opening period. After 10 minutes, the Brazilian cleverly spun away from his marker to volley from close range, but the Sirens goalkeeper Matthew Grech was alert and saved.
Nogureira, then ghosted through the Sirens defence on 23 minutes but his final shot was weakly struck.
The Reds only had to wait a minute into the second half to take the lead. Angel Torres burst into the box in menacing fashion to hit a low drive behind Grech.
This sparked more impressive play from the Columbian striker. On 57 minutes, he was the creator once more, with another surging run and pass that substitute Bojan Kaljevic turned in from close range.
Sirens’ response was low-key despite the introduction of Kei Sano. On the other side, on 78 minutes, Torres turned in a low ball through the area for Kaljecvic but his rising shot went out.
Three minutes from time, Kaljevic turned provider, providing the perfect ball to Torres who made no mistake to grab his second and Balzan’s third. Sirens ended well beaten, although Adrian Borg reduced the deficit from close-range in the dying seconds.
