Hibernians 3
Pisani 33; Dias 38, 40;
Mosta 2
Bajada 58; Mitev 78;

Mosta fell agonisingly short of a remarkable comeback as a bright second-half display was not enough to avoid a 3-2 defeat to Hibernians at the Corradino Stadium.

Steve D’Amato’s Mosta were completely blown away during the opening half when quick goals from Marcelo Dias and Steve Pisani lifted the ‘home’ fans as the Paolites raced to a 3-0 lead.

However, after the interval Mosta came back strongly, bridging the gap twice but despite their late rally they could not salvage a point.

Compared to the final game from last season, Mosta had eight different names in the starting XI yesterday. It is clear that the assimilation of the new signings will take time and it is unrealistic to expect their star-studded side to gel immediately.

Hibernians’ latest acquisition, Zoran Levnaic, was one of four changes effected by coach Michael Woods from the team that lost to Valletta in the Super Cup.

The Paolites began with the slick, quick passing game that won them many admirers last season, but still they failed to test Mosta goalkeeper Justin Haber in the opening exchanges.

Hibernians lacked penetration and precision, though Dias showed up well in that period.

In the 11th minute, he found space on the right flank, before hitting a shot on the turn that sailed wide.

Six minutes later, the Brazilian turned up again on the right wing, dancing around Steve Bezzina but his shot was deflected off a Mosta defender before landing on the roof of the net.

After that, the Paolities lulled their opponents into a false sense of security to the point of cruelly instilling confidence in them before applying a killing touch with three goals in just seven minutes.

The goal that Woods’ men had long threatened came in the 33rd minute when Andrew Cohen displayed some deft footwork on the left flank to frustrate Alex Cini before putting in a teasing cross into the path of Steve Pisani who had little difficulty to plant the ball into an empty net.

Dias made it 2-0 five minutes later when the Brazilian headed home a cross by Johann Bezzina.

The striker’s next contribution was even better, drifting past Fernando Apap before unleashing a powerful drive past Haber for a seemingly commanding lead for the Paolites.

Soon after the break, Mosta created their first chance of the match when Daniel Bogdanovic burst through but was snuffed out by a timely challenge from Levnaic that cleared the danger.

At the other end, Carlos Campagnoli’s attempted clearance saw the the ball bounce into the path of substitute Ayrton Azzopardi who unleashed a rasping drive that came off the post.

Mosta pulled a goal back on 58 minutes when Jonathan Bajada, surprisingly left on the bench after his prolific role in helping Mosta avoiding the drop last season, had an immediate impact when he curled the ball home to put his team back in the match.

The goal spurred the Blues forward and 12 minutes from time Danail Mitev took responsibility of a central free-kick and his firm drive flew into the back of the net.

D’Amato’s men were in sight of a famous recovery but for all their efforts Hibs easily administered their lead to secure a positive take-off to their Premier League trek.

Hibernians
M. Muscat-5.5, R. Camilleri-5.5, J. Pearson-5.5, S. Pisani-6 (88 B. Muscat ), R. Soares-5.5,M. Dias-7 (60 A. Ribeiro), A. Cohen-7, B. Kristensen-6 (46 A. Azzopardi), J. Bezzina-6, Z. Levnaic-6.5, J. Lima -7.

Mosta
J. Haber-5, F. Apap-5, A. Cini-5, L. Dimech-5, S. Bezzina-5.5 (71 B. Agius), R. Grech-6, D. Mitev-6.5, F. Aboulezz-4 (56 J. Bajada-6), C. Campagnoli-6, D. Bogdanovic-5, O. Obiefule-5.

Referee: Alan Mario Sant

Yellow cards: Obiefule, Camilleri, Ribeiro, Levnaic, Campagnoli.

BOV player of the match: Marcelo Dias (Hibernians).

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