Five-star Mqabba go top

Mosta 1
Mqabba 3

Mqabba produced a brilliant second-half performance to defeat fellow promotion hopefuls Mosta at the Tedesco Stadium.

The intelligent movement of Claudio Calleja, Shawn Magro and John Paul Muscat, coupled with the second-half introduction of Thiago dos Santos Mazzitelli, were the key to Mqabba’s success yesterday.

Mosta’s hopes suffered a blow when they lost Gilbert Martin to injury early in the second half.

Labelled as the highlight of the Division One programme, this game certainly live up to expectations. It was Mqabba who enjoyed the better start but they had to wait until the 13th minute to create their first chance. David Azzopardi’s drive was saved by Jonathan Debono, the Mosta goalkeeper.

Mosta responded five minutes later when Martin fired over the crossbar from just inside the box after getting on the end of William Camenzuli’s floating pass. Martin again tested the Mqabba rearguard on 20 minutes when he sprinted into the area only to shoot wide.

Mqabba forged ahead on 24 minutes. A quickly-taken free-kick surprised Mosta as the ball was passed to Muscat who, despite being closely marked by Mark Brincat, dashed through before scoring at the far post.

The reaction from Mosta was immediate. After peppering the Mqabba rearguard with a series of crosses, Mosta won a corner on 35 minutes. Camenzuli’s cross from the corner sailed towards veteran Simon Shead who headed home.

After the change of ends, Mqabba regained the upperhand. Inside the opening three minutes, Mauro Bonnici’s shot was partially saved by Debono but no Mqabba striker was on hand to pounce on the loose ball.

On 55 minutes, Mqabba came close to restoring the lead. Bonnici made good progress before releasing Mazzitelli inside the area but the Brazilian’s low effort finished wide.

Mqabba’s pressure paid off on 66 minutes when Calleja headed home from Magro’s right-wing cross.

Clive Mizzi’s team were now dominating the match and Magro’s shot brought a good save from Debono.

On 76 minutes, Magro missed another scoring opportunity when he shot wide from close range.

Mosta’s response only produced a Lyden Micallef effort which was off target.

Mqabba put their minds at rest when, 10 minutes from time, Mazzitelli beat Debono with a perfectly-struck grounder.

Mosta: J. Debono, A. Borg, K. Farrugia (R. Deguara), M. Brincat, K. Spiteri, W. Camenzuli, N. Bogdanovic, M. Briggs, L. Grima (L. Micallef), G. Martin (J. Bajada), S. Shead.

Mqabba: K. Calleja, A. Scicluna, M. Bonnici, P. Grima, B. Timotic, M.A. Psaila (C. Cuschieri), M. Briffa (T. Mazzitelli), D. Azzopardi, C. Calleja, J.P. Muscat, S. Magro (J. Shead).

Referee: Mario Apap.

Man of the match: Claudio Calleja (Mqabba).

Pietà Hotspurs 2
Msida St Joseph 0

Pietà Hotspurs obtained their first win of the season after beating bottom team Msida St Joseph 2-0.

It was the Hotspurs’ second success over the Saints following their 6-0 mauling in the preliminary round of the FA Trophy earlier this month.

Msida, who have now gone eight matches without scoring, face an uphill task to avoid relegation as, judging from their outings so far this season, they have the weakest team in Division One.

Pietà began to dominate from the outset. After just three minutes, Sheldon Grech passed to Zack Muscat whose cross was met by Quelin Refalo who sent the ball just over the bar from just inside the area.

The Hotspurs went ahead two minutes later when Muscat squeezed the ball past Msida goalkeeper Jeremy Alden.

On 15 minutes, Jurgen Pisani played the ball out to Refalo who drove wide from inside the area when he could have passed to the unmarked Robson Luiz Bandeira.

Msida produced their first scoring chance on 27 minutes when Neil Curmi’s first-time effort was blocked by Miguel Montfort, the Pietà goalkeeper.

But the Hotspurs continued to dictate matters and two minutes before the break, Refalo missed a sitter when poking wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Pietà continued to press forward in the second half. Muscat fired wide from underneath the crossbar after receiving a Bandeira cross.

Msida almost stunned their opponents with an equaliser in the 65th minute when Curmi’s free-kick was headed down by substitute Andrew Formosa towards Adrian Farrugia but the veteran was thwarted by Montfort.

A minute later, Pietà doubled their advantage. From a swift counter-attack, Bandeira ran clear before serving Refalo who slotted the ball home from close range.

Pietà kept pushing forward but they wasted several chances to increase their lead. To make matters worse for Msida, substitute Donald Gatt, who had only been on the pitch for five minutes, was sent off for dissent.

Pietà: M. Montfort, C. Spiteri (G. Busuttil), R. Mifsud, B. Sciberras, Q. Refalo, R. L. Bandeira, S. Grech (T. Agius), S. Lijeskic, Z. Muscat, C. Cassar, J. Pisani (L. Mallia).

Msida: J. Alden, K. Saliba (A. Formosa), L. Micallef, S. Phiram, M. Borda, R. Caruana, R. Xuereb, A. Farrugia, A. Grech (D. Gatt), O. Enyi, N. Curmi (C. Cioffi).

Referee: Esther Azzopardi.

Man of the match: Robson Luiz Bandeira (Pietà).