MELITA 2
Attard 33, Yepez 55
BALZAN 0
MELITA
G. Mizzi, Aldair, K. Mohnani, C. Penha, M. Debattista (85 E. Attard), M. van de Font Bovenkamp, J. Yepez (77 D. Xuereb), N. Cutajar (89 M. Cachia), K. Bondin, G. Barone.
BALZAN
D. Golovic, S. Arab, T. Caruana, I. Westendorf, J. Busuttil, B. Hili (73 C. Buschmann), H. Stanic, K. Williams, A. Ayo (46 D. Oluwatobiloba), M. Ahadi (46 J. Grech), M. Novaes (73 G. Farrugia).
Referee: Alex Johnson.
Yellow card: Bondin, Mohnani, Simanca, Yepez, Williams.
Melita returned to winning ways when they overcame Balzan and stretch their unbeaten run to three matches.
Although Andre Carlos Penha da Costa did not put his name on the scoresheet, he was the hero as he was a constant threat for Melita who netted a goal in each half to earn the newly-promoted side their second win of the season.
In the opening minutes, Balzan’s Jan Busuttil made his presence felt with his vision and deft touches that frequently unpicked Melita’s defence.
Balzan spurned some golden opportunities to break the deadlock earlier on.
First, Marcel Lima Novaes just missed the far post after some good work.
Yet, their biggest hope of taking the lead came in the shape of Alexander Akpan Ayo.
On 20 minutes, the English striker first sent a stinging volley over the bar.
Seven minutes later, the striker was out of luck again when he received a well-weighted throughball from Samir Arab but shot straight at Gosef Mizzi.
Instead, it was Melita who took the lead against the run of play through Jean Pierre Attard in the 33rd minute.
Attard could not miss after Andre Penha hit a curling shot that Danilo Golovic could only partially parry leaving the Melita captain with a simple tap-in.
The goal seemed to stun Balzan and it was reflected in their play as they gave the ball away far too easily.
Then, on 38 minutes, Melita threatened to double the lead when Nick Cutajar hit a low drive just wide.
Andre Penha’s pace was a constant threat.
Ten minutes into the second half, the Brazilian embarked on a mazy run on the left flank that left his markers trailing in his wake before squaring for Jesus Andres Yepez to hit home from close in.
Balzan made little in the way of chances in the second half, with Henri Stanic getting the best opportunity when the goalkeeper dropped the ball but he hit over with the goal at his mercy.
The Belgium winger missed another opportunity but he hit a low shot across goal.
Melita’s Marc van de Font Bovenkamp might have made it worse for Balzan but he couldn’t make contact with the ball served by Penha.
