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10-man Floriana make sure of points in second half

Published: 16-09-2017 08:00
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FLORIANA       4ST ANDREWS 0 Floriana maintained their unbeaten start to the season after seeing off the challenge of St Andrews to the tune of 4-0 despite having captain Steve Pisani dismissed in the first half at the Centenary Stadium.  The Greens began to push forward from the outset but it was St Andrews who went close to open the scoring midway into the first half. Captain Joseph Farrugia’s fine pass released Kevaun Atkinson but the latter’s shot ended just wide. Floriana took a deserved lead in the 25th minute. Nicolas Chiesa crossed the ball from the left, Maurizio Vella hit the post and Mario Fontanella’s follow-up header was cleared off the line by a defender. Amid the ensuing melee, Fontanella was alert to head the ball home. The game took an unexpected turn for Floriana on 33 minutes as Pisani was sent off by referee Malcolm Spiteri for elbowing Tano Azian in the middle of the pitch. Five minutes from half-time, Matthew Calleja Cremona, the St Andrews goalkeeper, produced a fine save from Vella’s low strike to keep his team in the match. The second half began with St Andrews pressing for an equaliser but could not find a way past a solid Floriana’ s defence. The Greens tried to operate on the counter-attack. Numerical parity was restored when St Andrews were also reduced to ten men after Azian received a red card for a second booking. Floriana took advantage six minutes later when, following a free-kick by Chiesa, the ball landed to Ignacio Varela whose powerful shot ended in the back of the net. It was all Floriana now as they wrapped up their win with two more goals through Enzo Ruiz, who scored with a brilliant header, and Varela who converted a penalty in stoppage time.