10-man Blues tame the Tigers

Mosta 3
Xewkija Tigers 1

Despite having a man sent off and conceding a goal midway through the first half, Mosta were still strong enough to oust Xewkija Tigers, the GFA championship leaders, yesterday.

The Gozitans, with a sizeable group of followers in the stands at the Centenary Stadium, never got to grips with the fast play of Mosta duo Obinna Obiefule and newcomer Zakaria Kibona.

Although Simon Cassar’s men gave their all, in the end experience prevailed and the Blues booked their place in the quarter-finals.

Xewkija tried to shock Mosta with an early goal and Kiril Dyakov was almost on target but his piledriver from 30 metres out finished just over the crossbar. The Bulgarian tried to do the same a few minutes later but his accuracy let him down again.

Mosta’s first goal-scoring opportunity came on 22 minutes when Ian Zammit was ruled offside after hitting home from a loose ball after Xewkija’s Adrian Parnis had spilled Kurt Magro’s free-kick.

At the other end, the assistant referee signalled a Yannick Ossok infringement after a foul on Rodney Buttigieg in the Mosta box. Ossok was dismissed and from the penalty, Christopher Camilleri put the underdogs 1-0 up.

Despite playing with a man less, Mosta started venturing forward more often and on 33 minutes balance was restored when Magro’s header took a deflection off Camilleri and sailed into the Tigers’ net.

Xewkija were stunned and Mosta forged ahead three minutes later thanks to a Florent Raimy goal after Parnis failed to hold a Zammit shot.

Dyakov almost drew the teams level before half-time but his fierce drive was kept out by keeper Glenn Zammit who was again alert soon after to keep out Chris Camilleri’s free-kick.

Xewkija again went close to an equaliser after the restart when a Christopher Camilleri shot from the left flew just wide.

Mosta were hitting their opponents on the counter and on one occasion Zammit beat Josmar Vella and Christian Bugeja in the box but his shot was stopped by Parnis.

However, the game was over as a contest on 57 minutes as Kibona slotted the ball home from close range following an Obiefule centre from the right flank.

The Blues held firmly with Xewkija’s only chance to pull one back coming late on when John Camilleri hit badly from a good position just inside the Mosta box.

Mosta: G. Zammit, A. Borg, K. Farrugia, Z. Kibona, Y. Ossok, F. Raimy, A. Cini, J. Bajada (G. Martin 64), K. Magro, I. Zammit (F. Aboulezz 89), O. Obiefule.

Xewkija: A. Parnis, M. Xerri, J. Vella (M. Camilleri 62), M. Hrubsa, J. Cefai, K. Dyakov, E. Vella, R. Buttigieg, C. Camilleri (J. Azzopardi 78), C. Bugeja (P. Rapa 85), J. Camilleri.

Referee: Glenn Tonna.

Red card: Y. Ossok 23 (M).