Tarxien on brink of safety

Tarxien Rainbows 5
Bueno 24; Carabott 57, 90; Ricardo 65; De Castro 68 pen;
Mqabba 0

Tarxien took a giant step towards retaining their place in the top flight next season after easing past Mqabba in a crucial Relegation Pool match yesterday.

As the scoreline clearly indicates the Rainbows held the upperhand for most of the match with striker Daniel Mariano Bueno the catalyst behind his team’s victory as he put his side ahead with a fine strike before playing a key part in three other goals netted by his team-mates.

Tarxien have now moved to the 21-point mark, four points better off than second-bottom Mqabba, now with a huge fight on their hands to avoid a quick return to Division One along with the doomed Marsaxlokk whose fate was officially sealed yesterday as they cannot finish higher than 11th in the standings.

Mqabba coach Clive Mizzi made two changes to the team that fired blanks against Ħamrun last week as David Fenech was back from suspension and handed a midfield role with Marko Potezika dropped to a central defensive position.

Striker Thiago Mazzitelli was restored to the starting formation at the expense of David Azzopardi.

Patrick Curmi, the Tarxien coach, also made two adjustments to his formation as Ricardo was preferred to striker Jimmy Mayasi while Karl Pulo was replaced by the returning Mark Tanti.

Tarxien made their intentions clear right from the start. On three minutes, they were awarded a free-kick from the edge of the area and Ricardo’s shot was neutralised by goalkeeper Kris Calleja.

At the other end, John Nwoba sped past two defenders before picking the unmarked Claudio Calleja but he fired over from a good position.

The Rainbows threatened again when Ricardo released Tanti who nodded the ball towards Adrian Carabott whose header finished over.

Tarxien’s early ascendancy was finally rewarded on 24 minutes when Bueno beat his marker before letting fly an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net.

Stung by this setback Mqabba tried to hit back. Nwoba was first to Fenech’s corner but his header was palmed away by Nicky Vella.

Mizzi tried to spur his players from the sidelines but the side looked short of ideas with the result that the Tarxien defence was rarely tested.

On one occasion, just before the break, Nwoba surged through only to see his fierce shot finishing inside the side-netting.

At the change of ends, Mizzi withdrew Claudio Calleja and introduced David Azzopardi as the side badly needed a lift in midfield.

However, any hopes Mqabba might have had of clawing their way back into the match were dashed on 57 minutes when Bueno did well to serve Carabott who shrugged off Psaila’s challenge before placing his shot beyond the keeper’s reach.

Mqabba were nowhere to be seen and Tarxien made it 3-0 minutes later when in a quick break, Carabott found the unmarked Ricardo who drilled the ball home.

More woes followed for the Reds as three minutes later substitute Clayton Micallef upended Bueno inside the box and Luiz de Castro scored from the ensuing penalty.

With four goals to the good, the Rainbows lifted their foot off the pedal but Mqabba were still unable to trouble Vella and at least score a consolation goal.

Instead, it was Tarxien who added a fifth goal in stoppage time when Carabott rifled home to wrap up an impressive display for the Rainbows.

Tarxien Rainbows
N. Vella-6, C. Mamo-6.5, M. Caruana-6.5 (80 J. Vella), Everton-6, A. Carabott-6.5, Ricardo-6.5, M. Tanti-6, D. Bueno-7.5 (86 J. Mayasi), Luiz De Castro-6, R. Mintoff-6, J. Grioli-6 (75 S. Sadowski).

Mqabba
K. Calleja-4.5, J. Briffa-5, M.A. Psaila-5 (63 C. Micallef-5), P. Grima-5.5, M. Potezika-5.5 (79 R. Duca), M. Bonnici-6, C. Calleja-5 (46 D. Azzopardi-5.5), D. Fenech-5, T. Mazzitelli-4.5, B. Mamic-4, J. Nwoba-4.5.

Referee: Esther Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Psaila, Bueno, Briffa.

BOV Player of the match: Daniel Mariano Bueno (Tarxien Rainbows).

Standings