Mifsud caps City's three-goal flurry

Valletta 3
Scerri 47; Agius 50; Mifsud 57
Qormi 0

'Ole, Ole Michael Mifsud' chorused the numerous Valletta fans midway into their match against Qormi yesterday.

The City faithful had good reason to salute Mifsud as the new signing crowned his debut with a goal that capped a three-goal flurry for Valletta in the opening 12 minutes of the second half.

Faced with a win-at-all-costs scenario, Valletta had toiled to hit their stride in the opening half as their attacking manoeuvres were quelled by Qormi who opted for a prudent approach.

Valletta's travails to breach Qormi's dogged resistance frustrated their fans initially but Terrence Scerri's goal inside the third minute of the second half settled City's nerves.

As Ton Caanen's men bombed forward, Qormi floundered and leaked three goals in quick succession that shattered their hopes of gaining something from this match.

Victory lifted Valletta alongside Birkirkara on 29 points but the latter will regain sole leadership if they see off Tarxien today. The three-point haul should go some way towards lifting Valletta's morale ahead of their Anniversary Cup semi-final against Tarxien and next weekend's showdown with Birkirkara, who were drawn against the Citizens in the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy.

As expected, Mifsud made his first appearance for Valletta yesterday. Doding Priso and Steve Borg were restored to the starting XI after suspension as wingers Dyson Falzon and Kevin Sammut were demoted to the bench. Scerri was again deployed at the tip of Valletta's 4-3-3 formation while Jordi Cruyff was asked to fill in for the suspended Kenneth Scicluna at centre-half.

Jesmond Zerafa's tactical strategy offered no surprises. In the absence of Roderick Sammut, suspended, the right-back role was assigned to Kenneth Spiteri.

Close to the 15th minute, Gilbert Agius's set-piece cross sparked confusion in the Qormi box but the yellow-shirted players managed to clear the ball away for a corner.

When Alfred Effiong charged down Cruyff's pass from a deep position in the City half, Qormi's optimism rose as the Nigerian sprinted forward but his ball from the right found no takers.

An intelligent run by Mifsud, now roving on the right wing, carved an opening for Valletta as the nippy forward switched the ball to the left where Steve Bezzina's progression had gone unchecked. Bezzina delivered a low cross towards the advancing Scerri but the latter's flick was smothered away by Matthew Farrugia, the Qormi keeper.

A minute past the half hour, Farrugia did well to paw away Agius's inswinger but, by and large, the game remained low-key.

Qormi offered little going forward for much of the opening 35 minutes but that almost changed when Effiong, profiting from a mistake by Valletta, directed a perfect pass to Camilo but Cruyff dashed backward and just managed to nudge the ball away from the Brazilian.

In next to no time, Qormi were screaming 'penalty' as Camilo appeared to have been shoved to the ground by Luke Dimech but referee Anton Zammit deemed that the Valletta defender's challenge was fair.

As Qormi flickered to life in attack, their fans became more voluble while those of Valletta exhorted their players to up the tempo.

On the cusp of half-time, Mifsud would have given Valletta the lead but for another top-drawer save from Farrugia after the Malta striker had met Briffa's service with a half-volley.

Just over two minutes from the restart Valletta broke the deadlock. Qormi appeared to have been let off the hook when Priso mishit his cross from the right but the ball was picked up by Bezzina who centred for Scerri and the Valletta striker guided the ball in from close range.

The fans were still celebrating Scerri's opener when the Whites struck again. Bezzina roared forward on the left before passing to Agius who slipped his marker with a feint and drilled a powerful shot past Farrugia.

Valletta might have made it 3-0 two minutes later when, after another prolonged move, Bezzina put in another delivery inside the box but Scerri blasted over.

The joy of the City faithful increased when, 12 minutes into the second half, Mifsud put his name on scoresheet, beating Farrugia with an exquisite first-time strike after getting on the end of Priso's assist.

Qormi were down and out as City threatened to run riot. With 19 minutes remaining, Massimo Grima briefly broke Valletta's dominance with a thunderous shot that smacked against the bar.

Grima was at it again 13 minutes from the end but this time, his piledriver finished over.

At the other end, Agius hit over from the edge of the box as the Citizens strolled through the final minutes of the game.

Valletta: A. Hogg-6, S. Bezzina-7, S. Borg-6.5, L. Dimech-6 ('63 E. Agius-5), J. Cruyff-6.5, J. Pace-6 ('66 K. Sammut-5), G. Agius-6.5, D. Priso-6 ('76 D. Grima), M. Mifsud-6.5, R. Briffa-7, T. Scerri-6.

Qormi: M. Farrugia-7, Ramon-7, J. Bondin-5, K. Spiteri-6, S. Wellman-7, M. Grima-6.5, J. Farrugia-5, S. Giglio-5 ('70 D. Pisani-5), K. Fenech-4 ('55 M. Bartolo-4), Camilo-5, A. Effiong-5 ('77 R. Deguara).

Referee: Anton Zammit.

Yellow cards: Borg; Scerri; Grima; Camilo.

BoV player of the match: Gilbert Agius (Valletta).