Obiefule hits four as Mosta revive hopes

Mosta 5
Bajada 6; Obiefule 14 pen, 21, 27, 84;
Marsaxlokk 1
Templeman 36 pen;

Obinna Obiefule came back to haunt Marsaxlokk, his former club, yesterday as he inspired Mosta to a crushing 5-1 victory that revived their bid to avoid relegation.

The prolific forward had a hand in all five goals scored by Mosta, four of which came in a devastating 22-minute spell in the opening half as the Blues obtained their first win in four games.

After setting up Jonathan Bajada for Mosta’s opener on six minutes, Obiefule netted a quickfire hat-trick in the space of 13 first-half minutes that effectively closed the game. The Nigerian added a fourth in the final stages as the Blues, who were coming from two successive defeats, gained a much-needed boost and left the struggling Marsaxlokk on the verge of relegation.

Marsaxlokk remain bottom of the table on nine points, seven behind third-bottom Mosta and Mqabba with only six games remaining.

Anton Cremona, the Marsaxlokk coach, was boosted by the return of two key players as defender Clive Brincat and midfielder Trevor Templeman were back in the fray after missing the 3-0 defeat to Mqabba last week. Serbian midfielder Nemanja Stoskovic was not in Cremona’s 18-man squad.

Steve D’Amato, the Mosta coach, effected three changes from the team that produced a lame display in a 2-0 defeat to Tarxien as Alex Cini was included in the starting formation ahead of Kane Farrugia while Serbian midfielder Predrag Mirceta was preferred to Florent Raimy, who started on the bench.

Striker Ian Zammit was not in the 18-man squad with Gilbert Martin filling his void up front.

Mosta took just six minutes to storm ahead. From a quick raid, Obiefule released the steaming Bajada who dashed into the area and unleashed a low drive past Marsaxlokk goalkeeper Christian Cassar.

The Blues continued to dictate the pace and on 11 minutes, Martin sped clear on the right before hitting a low strike that finished into the side-netting.

Marsaxlokk’s woes deepened three minutes later when Obiefule burst into the area before laying the ball back towards Martin who was upended in the area by Gabriel Buttigieg with referee Marco Borg immediately pointing to the spot. Obiefule stepped up for the kick and drilled his shot past Cassar.

The match was all but over as a contest on 21 minutes when Obiefule showed excellent skills to turn past two opponents, rounded goalkeeper Cassar and deposited the ball into the net.

Shocked by Mosta’s aggressive start, Marsaxlokk were leaking water from everywhere and six minutes later Obiefule completed his hat-trick. The Nigerian forward dived full stretch to direct the ball into the net from Dyson Falzon’s corner.

Nine minutes from half-time, the southerners received an unexpected boost when they were awarded a penalty after Federico Tisbi was adjudged to have pushed Jean Paul Farrugia in the area. From the resultant penalty, Templeman sent Jonathan Debono the wrong way to reduce the deficit to 4-1.

Mosta could have restored their four-goal lead soon after the restart when Cini dribbled his way into the area before setting up Martin whose firm drive was pushed away by Cassar.

At the start of the second half, Cremona withdrew Buttigieg and drafted in Jonathan Xerri in a bid to shore up his defence.

Now pushing forward, Marsaxlokk came close to further reducing the arrears when Templeman’s firm drive from a free-kick was somehow kept out by Debono.

Mosta were dangerous every time they ventured forward. On 55 minutes, Adrian Borg curled the ball inside the area and Falzon quickly released Obiefule. The Nigerian managed to avoid the onrushing Cassar with the ball falling into the path of Martin whose strong effort was pushed away by the Marsaxlokk goalkeeper.

Marsaxlokk should have reopened the issue on 67 minutes when Templeman’s low cross picked the unmarked Farrugia whose rising shot flew just over.

As the match entered its final stages, scoring chances were restricted as Mosta were easily administering their lead against a Marsaxlokk team that looked resigned to another defeat.

Obiefule still found time to complete his poker when, six minutes from time, Falzon crossed the ball towards Cini whose shot was cleared off the line by Xerri but in came the Nigerian who poked the rebound home.

The Mosta forward again had the ball in the Marsaxlokk net a minute from time but the ‘goal’ was annulled for offside.

Mosta
J. Debono-6, A. Borg-6, F. Tisbi-6.5, Y. Ossok-6, A. Cini-6.5, J. Bajada-6.5 (77 F. Aboulezz), K. Magro-7 (80 L. Martinelli), P. Mirceta-5.5 (72 F. Raimy-6), D. Falzon-6.5, G. Martin-6, O. Obiefule-8.

Marsaxlokk
C. Cassar-4, M. Valeriani-5, S. Borg-4, J. Brincat-5, C. Brincat-5, G. Buttigieg-5 (46 J. Xerri-5.5), G. Caruana-4, J.P. Farrugia-6 (84 D. Grech-5), P. Oladotun-5 (61 S. Eboh-5), T. Templeman-6, A. Pedrozo-5.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Yellow cards: Buttigieg; Mirceta; Templeman.

BOV player of the match: Obinna Obiefule (Mosta).