Pereira double downs Hotspurs

Mqabba 2
Pietà Hotspurs 0

Marcelo Pereira was the toast of Mqabba yesterday as the Brazilian forward struck two quick-fire goals to help his team to a 2-0 victory over Pietà Hotspurs in a hard-fought match at the National Stadium.

Anchored at the bottom of the standings with only three points to their merit, struggling Mqabba were again banking on the scoring instincts of Pereira, their top scorer, to keep alive their flickering hopes of survival.

The Brazilian duly obliged with a great attacking performance that saw him striking two second-half goals in the space of 13 minutes for his team's second successive win. More importantly, the three points revive Mqabba's hopes of getting back in contention in the relegation dog-fight.

They have now bridged the gap with Pietà to two points but still trail third-from-bottom Msida by five.

Although they still have a mountain to climb, coach Borislav Giorev will be encouraged with the character and determination shown by his players. Surely, if Mqabba can keep the momentum going then anything can still happen.

Carmel Busuttil, the Pietà coach, was forced to make two changes to his starting formation as Quilin Refalo was serving the first of a six-match suspension while Carl Pulo was not included in the squad. Domenic Mifsud and Carl Sammut were drafted in the starting formation.

Mqabba only had two of the three Brazilians on their books on the field - Pereira and Italo Nogueira. Fabio Silva was on the bench. Claudio Calleja and Dylan Zarb were also among the substitutes with John Mintoff and Matthew Cocks taking their place in midfield.

Mqabba came agonisingly close to an opener as early as the fifth minute when Pereira outpaced his marker to reach Marlon Briffa's through-ball first. He pulled the trigger just as he was about to enter the box but the shot flew just over.

Pietà's response arrived on 11 minutes when Martin Deanov broke free on the right before swerving a cross that was partially cleared by the Mqabba defence. Svetlan Kondev's following shot was out of target.

Deanov had a great chance to break the stalemate soon after when he was well picked by Sammut but the Bulgarian forward miscued his shot with only goalkeeper Kris Calleja to beat.

The Hotspurs were slowly starting to take control with Mqabba defending stoutly and trying to surprise their opponents with fast breaks.

On 25 minutes, Pereira threatened again when he sped through but his grounder was easily dealt with by Miguel Montfort, the Pietà keeper.

Twelve minutes from the break, Calleja was forced to dive to his left to keep out Galabov's deflected shot and then the Mqabba keeper breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sammut's dipping shot just missing his goal.

On the stroke of half-time Mqabba went close when from an Albert Busuttil free-kick, the ball fell into the path of Pereira who fired a rasping drive that was somehow parried by Montfort.

After the break, Busuttil replaced Bernard Sciberras with Ishmael Grech. This change prompted a position reshuffle in the team as Galabov took a central defensive role while the young Pietà substitute operated at left back. Sammut was moved to a midfield position.

Pereira should have given Mqabba the lead on 51 minutes when he was first to react after Montfort had stopped Clifford Gatt Baldacchino's piledriver. However, the Mqabba forward hit the ball over from in front of a gaping goal.

On 59 minutes, Pereira stole a march on the Hotspurs defenders and looked in a good position to deliver a shot at goal but Pietà defender Ryan Camilleri reacted in time with a well-timed tackle.

However, on 65 minutes, Pereira was not to be denied. He was first on a long throughball, dribbled past Camilleri but his run was illegally halted by Montfort. A penalty was awarded. Pereira stepped up for the spot-kick to put his team in front.

One expected Pietà to stage a reaction but instead it was Mqabba who struck again. The clock marked 78 minutes when Camilleri's pass was intercepted by Pereira who dashed inside the area before letting fly an unstoppable shot that left Montfort stranded.

That goal all but settled the match as Mqabba opted wisely to administer their lead with Pietà rarely threatening to re-open the match.

Mqabba: K. Calleja-6, M. Bonnici-6.5 ('81 F. Silva), A. Busuttil-7.5, I. Nogueira-6, M. Briffa-6.5, M. Pereira-7, M. Cocks-6.5, C. Gatt Baldacchino-6.5, J. Mintoff-6.5, R. Briffa-6, L. Galea-6.

Pietà: M. Montfort-5, C. Cassar-5, B. Sciberras-5 ('46 I. Grech-5.5), M. Deanov-5, C. Sammut-6, D. Gera-5.5, S. Kondev-6.5, D. Mifsud-6, E. Herrera-5.5, R. Camilleri-4.5, R. Galabov-5.

Referee: Saviour Tanti.

Scorer: Pereira 65 pen, 78.

Yellow cards: Cocks, Briffa, Mifsud, Montfort.

BoV Player of the match: Marcelo Pereira (Mqabba).