Floriana beat Valletta in a penalty shoot-out to progress to Premier League final

It was a dramatic finale to a match that failed to live up to expectations as scoring chances were few and far between for much of the match, with Valletta creating the better chances but Floriana showed great defensive solidity to keep their opponents out.

The Citizens will feel hard done by the final outcome as they had the better chances and were denied by the woodwork in the second minute of stoppage time of extra-time.

But it was not to be as Floriana showed more composure in the shoot-out with goalkeeper Cioletti emerging as the hero when saving two penalties.

Valletta made their intentions clear right from the outset and on 10 minutes they went close when Yuri Messias chipped the ball towards Emmanuel Mbende who saw his header pushed over by Cioletti.

As the minutes passed, the match became more cagey with scoring chances a rarity, with neither goalkeeper was tested. It was clear that the tension of the occasion was affecting both teams’ performances.

The only other chance of the half came again from Valletta when, from a quickly-taken corner kick, Messias found Diogo Tavares, whose shot was easily saved by Cioletti.

The second half kept the same script, with both teams cancelling each other and very little goalmouth chances.

On 63 minutes, Valletta had a corner with Messias nodding the ball into the path of Jake Azzopardi, who, however, fired over

Valletta remained the more dangerous side, and on 74 minutes, Thaylor Aldama found Adebayo in space inside the area, but the Nigerian failed to flick the ball into the net.

Both teams pressed for a late winner but to no avail as the match headed into extra-time.

Here, both teams continued to battle hard, but chances remained few and far between.

Valletta were forced to replace their goalkeeper Adilson Maringa who picked up a muscle injury and was replaced by Julani Archibald, who was making his first appearance of the season.

Three minutes from the end of the match, Mbende almost won it for Valletta but his header was well kept out by Cioletti.

Valletta had an even better chance two minutes into stoppage time when from a Paiber free-kick, Adebayo’s shot hit the upright with Cioletti beaten as the match headed to extra-time.#

In the shoot-out, Floriana goalkeeper Cioletti took centre stage when he first saved Paiber’s penalty and then kept out Diogo Tavares’s effort.

His counterpart, Archibald saved Owen Spiteri’s shot but could do nothing to keep out Zach Scerri’s shot.

Floriana were further boosted when Mbende’s shot crashed against the bar before Mylew Beerman sent Archibald the wrong way to put the Greens one spot kick conversion away from victory.

Jake Grech then stepped up to fire home and send Floriana into next Saturday’s final.