Farrugia’s sweet delivery on show as Qormi, Sliema trade six goals

Qormi 3
Farrugia 14 pen, 68; Nwoke 49;
Sliema Wanderers 3
Mitev 23; Lima 57; Galabov 63;

Few Premier League players strike the ball better than Joseph Farrugia.

So often the leading man for Qormi this season, Farrugia hogged the limelight again yesterday as he had a hand in all of his team’s goals in a three-all draw with Sliema Wanderers.

After opening the scoring from the penalty spot early on, Farrugia delivered the set-piece cross that enabled Qormi to go temporarily ahead after the restart before scoring with a trademark free-kick to earn his side a vital point in their quest to gain a Championship Pool berth.

Shame that the Qormi captain’s afternoon ended on a sad note as he was carried away on a stretcher after suffering what looked like a calf injury, leaving his team with 10 men in stoppage time.

While Farrugia earned the plaudits for his deadball expertise, Sliema also provided some eye-catching performers yesterday as the Blues made a hefty contribution to an entertaining match.

Brazilian Jackson Lima, himself scorer of a fine goal, ran Farrugia close for the man-of-the-match award while Bulgarian Danail Mitev and Jorge also had a productive outing.

The draw was a fair outcome as neither side deserved to lose.

After back-to-back wins, the high-flying Qormi extended their positive run to three games while Sliema figured in their second consecutive draw after their 1-1 stalemate with Valletta.

Although the Wanderers will have been pleased to take a point, they will have rued their failure to kill the match when they went 3-2 up. Sliema, who remain in mid-table, have now gone five matches without a win.

Jeffrey Chetcuti’s suspension compelled Qormi coach Stephen Azzopardi to make one change from the team that trounced Mosta 4-1. Former Malta international Stephen Wellman took up Chetcuti’s screening duties in front of Qormi’s four-man defence.

Goalkeeper Henry Bonello, sidelined for three weeks with a calf injury, was back in the fray for Sliema but he had to settle for a place on the bench as coach Danilo Doncic kept faith with Anthony Curmi.

Sliema’s bold display in their 1-1 draw with Valletta encouraged Doncic to pick the same starting XI. Jorge, Mitev and Cleaven Frendo were granted freedom to interchange in attack with Lima pulling the strings in midfield.

Qormi’s tactical approach was very similar to that of their opponents as they mainly relied on the pace and dribbling skills of their attacking trio, Jorginho, Daniel Nwoke and Abubakar Bello-Osagie, to penetrate Sliema’s defence.

The first chance came Sliema’s way. Jorge ran towards the byline on the right before dragging the ball back for fellow Brazilian Lima whose inswinger whizzed past the far post.

Qormi were quick to get the ball into Sliema’s half as Brazilian Jorginho made headway on the left before sending in a dangerous cross that was deflected away for a corner by the sliding Mark Scerri.

Jorge, this time roaming on the left wing, engineered another good move as he delivered another clever pull-back to Lima who was off target.

On 12 minutes, Kenneth Scicluna, lurking outside the box, floated a pass towards Jorginho who tried to outpace Rumen Galabov but the latter threw his body in the way of the Brazilian. Qormi yelled ‘penalty’ but it was not before assistant referee Mariano Debono waved his flag to signal that Galabov had touched the ball with his hands that referee Alan Mario Sant pointed to the spot.

Farrugia sent his shot past Curmi to put his team 1-0 up.

The penalty infuriated the Sliema players and coach Doncic but the Blues were sighing with relief a few minutes later. Shouts of ‘penalty’ again resonated around the stadium as Jorginho’s goalbound effort, following a pass from Nwoke, glanced off Galabov but this time the match officials saw nothing untoward.

In their next significant foray into Qormi’s half, Sliema levelled. Jackson Lima passed to Mitev who took one touch before arrowing his shot past Matthew Farrugia who remained rooted to his spot.

A frenetic opening showed no signs of abating as both teams displayed a refreshingly attacking mindset.

Qormi might have regained their lead when Matthew Bartolo’s lofted pass into the box landed at the feet of Bello-Osagie but the Nigerian skied his shot high and wide.

Jorge’s foraging runs down the left were causing problems to Qormi but they couldn’t find a way to stifle the Sliema winger.

This was evident on 33 minutes when Jorge again made good progress on the wing before cutting back to Lima whose grounder flashed against the far post.

Qormi were quick to respond. Bello-Osagie dashed through after a jinking run but his shot was beaten away by the alert Curmi.

At the other end, Jorge and Lima exchanged passes but the latter lost his balance after being challenged by Roderick Sammut. Sliema’s faint claims for a penalty were waved away by Sant.

On the cusp of half-time, Jorgin­ho dispossessed the overlapping Steve Bezzina before directing a forward pass to Nwoke who outmuscled Galabov but miscued his shot.

The first half ended 1-1 but Qormi moved ahead four minutes into the second half.

Farrugia underlined his excellent distribution skills as his looping free-kick from a wide position on the left soared dangerously towards goal. Curmi appeared to touch the ball onto the crossbar but it landed at the feet of Nwoke who poked home.

Qormi’s joy was shortlived though as 12 minutes into the second half Sliema were back on level terms thanks to Lima who beat Farrugia with a ferocious drive from outside the box.

The Blues went ahead for the first time on 63 minutes.

Mitev’s corner from the right sailed towards the near post and Galabov outjumped Farrugia to head home.

Buttressed by their two-goal salvo, Sliema stayed on the attack. Jorge hit a post from another Mitev corner and, moments later, the Brazilian was denied by Farrugia.

The tit-for-tat nature of the game persisted. Qormi made it 3-3 midway into the second half.

They were awarded a free-kick after substitute Clifford Gatt Baldacchino flattened Jorginho just outside the box and Farrugia bent his shot beyond the wall and away from Curmi’s reach.

It was Farrugia’s eighth goal in 10 league matches.

Qormi’s equaliser knocked Sliema off their stride.

Azzopardi’s men missed an inviting chance to snatch the winner nine minutes from time, Nwoke hitting wide after Bartolo’s corner had been diverted into the Nigerian’s path at the far post.

Qormi
M. Farrugia-5, R. Sammut-6.5, M. Bartolo-6, J. Farrugia-8, K. Scicluna-6, F. Mirarchi-5 (87 L. Sciberras), J. Bondin-5, Jorginho-6, S. Wellman-5 (76 D. Cachia), A. Bello-Osagie-6.5, D. Nwoke-5 (90 J. Chetcuti).

Sliema Wanderers
A. Curmi-5.5, A. Muscat-5 (54 C. Gatt Baldacchino-5), J. Mifsud-6, M. Scerri-6 (90 T. Thomas), D. Mitev-7, S. Bezzina-6.5, Jackson Lima-7.5, R. Galabov-6.5, R. Bajada-6, Jorge-7, C. Frendo-5 (78 B. Muscat).

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.

Yellow cards: Mifsud; Galabov; Bello-Osagie; Jorginho.

BOV player of the match: Joseph Farrugia (Qormi).

Standings