Veselji's late flourish foils Valletta

Valletta 0
Sliema Wanderers 2

Nenad Veselji is enjoying a new lease of life under coach Edward Aquilina. Evidence of Veselji's rich vein of form, if ever it was needed, was provided in abundance last night as the naturalised Maltese striker propelled Sliema to the top of the table with a consummate display of attacking football to hand his former club their first upset of the season.

A 2-0 victory for Sliema had seemed a very unlikely outcome before Veselji's decisive contributions as it was Valletta who were playing the better football only to be thwarted time and again by man of the match Murphy Akanji.

Veselji's exquisite abilities then turned the game on its head in the 78th minute as his pace forced the solid Valletta defence to concede a penalty which was converted by Noel Turner. Bolstered by their unexpected opener, Sliema grew in composure, waiting to hit their opponents on the counter, Veselji again grabbing the limelight with another penetrating run which led to the killer goal.

Jeffrey Chetcuti's gesture of appreciation when throwing a floral bouquet to the Valletta fans before kick-off drew a concerted applause from the City faithful. Yesterday, he was playing his first match against his former club after his move in the summer.

Within three minutes of the start, Doncic drifted inside the penalty area to latch onto an astute pass by Massimo Grima.

Sean Sullivan charged out to narrow the angle but the Yugoslav chipped the ball past him only for Darren Debono to hook the ball away.

Valletta, yesterday deprived of the services of Bulgarian Milen Penchev due to a hamstring injury, fashioned a rising shot by Gilbert Agius which ended wide after some fine work by Chris Oretan. On 12 minutes, Agius turned provider as he released Oretan with a fine through-pass but the latter's strike ended in no-man's land.

Aquilina's tactical ploy against his former club had Edoardo Do Nascimento picking up a advanced role on the right in a 3-4-3 attacking formation. Bizu's incursions down the right were countered by Renie Forace as Dennis Fenech stuck with a 5-3-2 formation with youngster Jonathan Bondin stepping into Penchev's boots.

Veselji, one of three players in the Sliema formation facing their old club, directed a header over the bar from a Brincat free-kick. Sliema enjoyed the more convincing start to the game, Sullivan beating away for a corner a Grima chip from outside the box.

For all their early territorial supremacy, Sliema had goalkeeper Akanji to thank for preventing the Citizens from nosing ahead in the 25th minute when he repelled a goalbound Agius shot after Oretan had dispossessed Ian Ciantar.

Referee Joe Attard incurred the wrath of the Valletta players seven minutes from half-time after he refrained from booking Grima for a deliberate handball.

That would have meant an early shower for Grima who had previously been cautioned for a tackle on Agius but the man in the middle spared him the ignominy of a premature exit.

Instead, City captain Agius was yellow-carded for his verbal exuberance.

On the stroke of half-time, City could have taken the lead but for another great Akanji save, palming away for a corner Ivan Zammit's angled drive after Agius's intelligent pass had opened up the erstwhile stout Sliema rearguard.

Akanji distinguished himself again six minutes into the restart when parrying a Bogdanovic point blank effort after another fine Agius run had thrown the Sliema defence off balance.

Despite the constant interchanging of positions up front, Sliema remained largely ineffective in the final third of the pitch.

Valletta's touch and movement were clearly on a different plane in the initial stages of the second half as Fenech's men looked to gain a foothold in the match.

A tame Oretan shot was easily saved by Akanji on 66 minutes as the Whites, driven on by Bondin's graft and Agius's craft, maintained their momentum.

Bogdanovic, so inspirational in the previous four matches, was enduring a frustrating outing, summed up by his hesitancy when shooting straight into Chris Okoh after an Agius cross had eluded the Blues' defensive lines.

Fifteen minutes from time, Doncic was quick to pounce on a very rare mistake by Theuma but the Yugoslav hitman blasted wide.

Minutes later, Sliema were awarded a penalty when Veselji burst through the Valletta defence after Forace had given away possession, only to be felled by Zammit inside the area. Zammit pleaded his innocence but the referee stuck to his guns. Turner kept his cool to despatch the ball past Sullivan.

Fenech's reaction was to thrust into the fray striker Trevor Thomas instead of Bondin. Aquilina elected to reinforce his defence with the introduction of Brian Said for Bizu.

Valletta threw caution to the wind as they poured forward in search of an equaliser but in doing so, they left themselves vulnerable at the back.

In a swift breakaway, Sliema wrapped up the game thanks to the fine dribbling of Veselji who sped past Zammit and Debono before dragging the ball back towards the unmarked Doncic who deposited the ball into the net.

Valletta: S. Sullivan, D. Theuma, R. Forace, D. Debono, I. Zammit, G. Agius, K. Fenech (N. Saliba), D. Carabott, C. Oretan, D. Bogdanovic, J. Bondin (T. Thomas).

Sliema: M. Akanji, J. Chetcuti, I. Ciantar, C. Okoh, E. Do Nascimento (B. Said), N. Turner, J. Brincat, M. Grima (K. Sammut), D. Camilleri, D. Doncic, N. Veselji (R. Mangion).

Referee: Joe Attard.

Scorers: Turner 78th pen.; Doncic 85th.

Yellow Cards: Debono; Grima; Agius; Brincat; Theuma.

Player Of The Match: Murphy Akanji (Sliema ).