FLORIANA 3
Keqi 47, 51 pen, 67
SIRENS 0
Kristian Keqi kept Floriana firmly in the hunt for their first league title in 26 years as the Albanian striker grabbed a quick fire hat-trick to propel the Greens to an important win over third-placed Sirens at the National Stadium.
It was far from a comfortable victory for the Premier League leaders who found the going tough to break down the stubborn resistance of the Sirens defence, particularly goalkeeper David Cassar, who denied them time and again in the first 45 minutes.
However, after the interval, Keqi took centre stage when inside the first four minutes he first fired his team ahead from close in and then he won and converted a penalty to double his side’s lead.
The Floriana forward went on to complete his hat-trick with a close-range header that wrapped up the spoils and put the Greens three points clear of nearest rivals Valletta, albeit the latter face Gudja United, this afternoon.
While the Floriana clan will be pleased with the three points won, coach Vincenzo Potenza will surely be a bit concerned by his team’s profligacy in front of goal which could have turned out to be fatal against sharper opponents.
On the other hand, Sirens struggled to keep abreast with Floriana’s play and need to recover from this setback quickly if they are to keep their chase of an historic European qualification alive.
Potenza reverted to his strongest formation for this match with Brazilian midfielder Diego Venancio and Argentine wingback Ulisses Arias handed a recall at the expense of Clyde Borg and Marcelo Dias.
Sirens, on the other hand, made two changes from the team that were held to a goalless draw by Sliema Wanderers.
Emmanuel Okoye and Romeu Romao were back in the fray
at the expense of Romarinho and Edward Herrera respectively.
The match was played at a high tempo in the opening stages with Floriana coming close after four minutes when Alex Cini fed Kristian Keqi who turned past his marker but he completely miscued his shot with only Cassar to beat.
The Albanian striker came even closer on 12 minutes when he latched onto Alex Cini’s cross and despite anticipating Cassar he saw his effort coming off the upright.
Floriana remained the better side and on 17 minutes, Tiago Fonseca nodded the ball into the path of Matias Garcia but his low shot was easily blocked by Cassar.
Sirens finally threatened on 22 minutes when Ige Adeshina fed Flavio Cheveresan but the Brazilian saw his curling drive finish just over.
At the other end, Keqi picked Stefano D’Agostino inside the Italian but the Italian’s volley was pushed over by Cassar.
Floriana continued to create the better chances and on 28 minutes Arias pulled the ball back towards D’ Agostino who saw his firm drive deflected just wide.
Ten minutes from the break, Keqi renewed his rivalry with Cassar when hitting another stinging drive that was somehow kept out by the Sirens no.1.
Cassar was undoubtedly the protagonist of the first half as six minutes from the break he dived full stretch to ensure the ball did not finish into the bottom far corner of the net following a Fonseca backheader.
Floriana survived a scare in the first minute of stoppage time when Okoye intercepted a poor clearance from Akpan with the ball finishing onto the feet of Cheveresan but the Brazilian saw his shot pushed away by the Greens goalkeeper.
The last chance of the half fell to Keqi but once more was denied by Cassar.
Floriana finally broke Cassar’s resistance 80 seconds into the second half when Cini picked Arias but was denied by the Sirens goalkeeper. The Argentine picked up the rebound but was once more denied by the custodian but the latter could do nothing to deny Keqi from close in.
The goal lifted Floriana’s spirits and the Greens soon added a second goal on 50 minutes when Keqi was upended inside the area by Ryan Grech and the Albanian converted the resultant penalty.
Keqi was not finished yet and on 67 minutes he completed Sirens’ demolition when he picked D’Agostino on the right channel before surging into the area to meet the Italian’s cross and head past Cassar.