Gudja United held Floriana to a 1-1 draw at the Tony Bezzina Stadium.

What looked like Floriana’s game in the first 45 minutes, became a tense second half as a sending off for goalkeeper Duncan Formosa boosted Gudja’s hopes and eventually gave them their equaliser.

Floriana made their early pressure count on seven minutes when a low cross from Lorenzo Trillo found Mattia Veselji who hit past Glenn Zammit and into the bottom corner.

Gudja’s response came on 19 minutes when from a freekick, the ball was slid to Neil Tabone but his shot went well over.

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Floriana had a golden opportunity just before the half hour when Trillo sprinted along the flank with no one to able to stop him from putting yet another low cross into the box. But this time, Kemar Reid scuffed his shot, putting the easiest of chances wide.

The Greens could have made it two late on in the first half when Zammit mistimed his attempt to collect an incoming cross with the ball dipping over him towards Trillo but the Italian skied his chance.

Ulises Arias had one last chance for Floriana but his shot was easily saved by Zammit as referee Daniel Casha whistled for the break.

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After the change of ends, the two sides looked slightly more balanced with Tatsuro Nagamatsu firing the first effort of the half but goalkeeper Formosa was on hand to stop the shot five minutes in.

Floriana responded a minute later but an unmarked Trillo mistimed his first-timed volley on the left.

On 54 minutes, Gudja’s Karl Micallef was the saviour for his side when a corner kick from Jan Busuttil was met by Veselji’s header but the defender hacked the ball off the line.

Four minutes later, Floriana were rocked when shotstopper Formosa was adjudged to have handled the ball outside the area in a direct chance of goal for Gudja, forcing a straight red card.

It was only a matter of time for Gudja to push towards using this numerical advantage and they did just that on 65 minutes when a Nicolas Navarrete corner found Farid Zuniga amid a crowded box, the Colombian slotting the ball into the net to bring his side level.

Both sides pushed for a winning goal, but a point was they could amass by the end of the match.

Referee: Daniel Casha

Source: sportsdesk.com.mt