Valletta and Balzan shared the points in a Premier League regular season fixture that finished 2-2. The encounter was played on Sunday evening at the Valletta ground. We had tipped Valletta for victory with a degree of confidence, but the match took its own course.
Macula opened the scoring in the sixth minute, and Valletta looked comfortable for a spell. To be fair, Balzan responded quickly. A. Dimeji converted a penalty in the fourteenth minute, and the visitors had levelled. Yellow cards started arriving before the break — Sekulovic, Grech, Fernandes, Arab, Prsa, and Pulis all received bookings. And here's the thing: five yellows in a half is not normal.
Valletta held their lead into the second period. Alex Tanque restored the home side's advantage on the stroke of half-time. The visitors were forced to make changes after Grech was shown a red card in the forty-eighth minute. Valletta's substitutions followed around the fifty-minute mark, bringing on Kuach Yuel and Sekulovic among others.
R. Prsa found the net in the seventy-fifth minute to complete Balzan's comeback. It was a moment that changed everything. Valletta had the chances to win it — they had shots to spare — but the away side held firm. The match had more teeth than most draws.
Valletta controlled possession at 58 per cent and registered sixteen shots, seven of which were on target. Balzan managed five attempts, two on target, with the red card reducing their numbers. The hosts enjoyed ten corners to the visitors' four. By then, the statistics told a story of more shots but not necessarily more quality.
Valletta remain second on ten points from five games, while Balzan sit sixth with eight. The result ended Balzan's run of three games without defeat. Valletta's form has been mixed — two losses in their last five — but this point keeps them within touching distance of the leaders.