Floriana 4
Piciollo 45; Marcelina 57, Juninho 80 pen, 89
Pembroke 2
Villalobos 50, 86
Juninho came off the bench to strike a late brace that enabled Floriana to see off Pembroke and return to winning ways.
The return of Nicolas Chiesa and Clyde Borg from suspension provided the ideal tonic for Floriana as Pembroke missed Paltemio Barbetti, ruled out by suspension.
Matteo Piciollo was the first player to get a sniff at goal inside the first five minutes.
The Italian striker dummied past a defender before unleashing a rising shot that was pushed away by Pembroke goalkeeper Mario Muscat.
Seven minutes later, it was Pembroke’s turn to put some pressure on the opposing rearguard as Ariel Laudisi’s lob forced Matthew Calleja Cremona into a fine save.
The game remained balanced. In the 24th minute, Andrè Scicluna floated a dangerous cross into the area but the quick-thinking Muscat dashed out to block the ball.
Three minutes from half-time, Gustavo Villalobos almost profited from a moment of hesitation in the Floriana defence when Calleja Cremona failed to neutralise Laudisi’s shot but the goalkeeper recovered to deny the American forward when he was about to pull the trigger.
When it looked as though the first half would end goalless, Piciollo stepped up in added time to break the deadlock.
The Italian striker connected with Steve Pisani’s pass to hit a crisp volley that flew into the top corner.
Pembroke took just five minutes from the restart to draw level.
Siraj Arab picked the ball on the right flank and exchanged it with Gustavo Danobrega. Villalobos, running in on the other side, met the American’s cross to put the ball behind Calleja Cremona.
But the drama was not over yet as seven minutes later, Pisani’s cross was met by Marcelina who headed home.
The Greens slowly regained a stronghold on proceedings and ten minutes from time, they hit a third.
Juninho was brought down in the area by Patmore Shereni and referee Stefan Pace pointed to the spot. The Brazilian picked himself up to beat Muscat from the resulting penalty.
Pembroke looked jaded but hit back four minutes from time.
Latching onto a short free-kick by substitute Manolito Micallef, Villalobos darted into the box before shooting home.
But no more than two minutes had passed when Juninho burst past Miguel Attard before hitting a low drive that had the better of Muscat to secure the points for Floriana.
Floriana: M. Calleja Cremona-6, A. Scicluna-6, A. Monticelli-5.5, E. Pepe-5.5, S. Pisani-6.5, M. Villa-5.5 (73 Juninho), C. Borg-6, M. Piciollo-7 (82 D. Agius), E. Briffa-6, E. Marcelina-6, E. Chiesa-5.
Pembroke: M. Muscat-5, Z. Levnaic-5, P. Shereni-5, T. Agius-5 (76 O. Obiefule), A. Laudisi-5.5, S. Arab-6 (65 M. Micallef-), O. Bugeja-5, G. Villalobos-6.5, A. Cini-5, G. Danobrega-6 M. Attard-5.
Referee: Stefan Pace.
Yellow cards: Danobrega, Pepe, Bugeja, Arab, Monticelli, Marcelina.
BOV Player of the match: Matteo Piciollo (Floriana).
Attendance 458.