FLORIANA 4
Zammit Lonardelli 21
Spiteri 43; Sasere 51, 66
NAXXAR LIONS 0
FLORIANA
C. Mafoumbi, O. El Hasni, J. Grech (80 N. Joyce), D. Vella (80 D.Farrugia), O. Spiteri (80 E.Piscopo) M. Garcia, C. Zammit Lonardelli (70 A. De Flavia), J. Gamarra, F. Sasere, G. Yameogo, E. de Souza (70 G. Rodgers Cann).
NAXXAR LIONS
M. Debono, O. Portelli (46 K. Debono), T. Yamaguchi (78 S. Degabriele), N. Pace Cocks (18 G. Bonanno), F. Jno-Baptiste, E. Farias (78 Q. Opajobi), R. Cassar, M. Fenech (46 K. Haber).
F. Barbosa Pereira, D. Jackson, Y. Ito.
Referee: Alex Johnson
Yellow card: Portelli.
High-flying Floriana got their Closing Round campaign off to a flier on Sunday as they steamrolled past a depleted Naxxar Lions side in a one-sided encounter at the Tony Bezzina Stadium.
Naxxar Lions are something of an unknown quantity at the start of the Closing Round as they have parted company with four Brazilian players, namely Caxambu, Pedro Vitor, Luan Sergio and Gustavo Barbosa.
They have brought in three new foreigners in the meantime but only the English forward Francis Jno-Baptiste was registered in time to be included in the starting formation.
Floriana made one change from the 1-0 win over Birkirkara with the former Chiasso striker Julian Gonzalo Gamarra replacing Mattia Veselji, who was on the bench.
Floriana won the Opening round and assured themselves of a place in the playoffs. On their part, Naxxar finished bottom of the table and will need to avoid the bottom two places to avoid direct relegation.
So, in terms of resources and form, the match between Floriana and Naxxar Lions was football’s equivalent of a David versus Goliath contest.
Naxxar tried their best to limit the damage but their young defensive line could do very little to deal with the relentless running of Jake Grech and Franklin Sasere. In-form Carlo Zammit Londarelli was also inspirational to his side.
As gaps appeared in all parts, Floriana ruthlessly took advantage, Zammit Londarelli sprinted away from his marker and squared the ball for Sasere but the Nigerian was late to make contact with the ball.
Floriana created and wasted a succession of chances before taking the lead after 21 minutes.
Grech ran clear on the right and the winger immediately sent a low drive which was partially blocked by Mattias Debono.
Naxxar defender Owen Portelli failed to clear the ball and in came Zammit Londarelli who blasted the ball into an empty net.
The match was as good as over before the end of the first half when Floriana made it 2-0.
Grech floated the ball towards the centre of the penalty area from a free-kick, Owen Spiteri stretched his leg to deflect the ball into the net.
Naxxar opened the second period at a pace designed to disrupt the Greens’ rhythm and it almost worked as they fashioned an early opening when Jno-Baptiste stole possession in the middle of the pitch to serve Takuma Yamaguchi but he was closed down by Spiteri.
On 51 minutes, Zammit Londarelli was allowed by substitute Kyle Debono to take possession, and he made Naxxar pay a heavy price when Sasere met his cross at the far post, before curling a low and precise finish beyond Debono.
After 67 minutes, Floriana added their fourth goal. Matias Garcia delivered a through ball from the right to Dunstan Vella who chipped a delightful ball towards Sasere who completed the rout.
This was the clue for Darren Abdilla to rest Zammit Lonardelli, Emerson da Souza, Vella, Spiteri and Grech and give some emerging talent their first taste of Premier League football.
Six minutes from time, Sasere had a great opportunity to make it a hat-trick but his low drive was parried by Debono before hitting the rebound over the bar.
