The Valletta players looked crestfallen as they left the Ta’ Qali pitch on Saturday with the jeers of their own fans ringing in their ears.

Seemingly irresistible for much of the first round, Valletta find themselves in the midst of a crisis after Saturday’s 1-0 reverse to Mosta, their first defeat of the season, extended the champions’ winless streak to five league games.

This poor run has inevitably ratcheted the pressure on coach Mark Miller and his troops with club president Victor Sciriha reportedly showing his dissatisfaction at the team’s recent performances by staying away from the National Stadium on Saturday.

The unexpected loss to Mosta will have done little to placate Sciriha and the demanding City fans but Miller has vowed to turn his team’s fortunes around.

“I’m disappointed,” Miller told The Times. “We’re not scoring and, from a footballing side, that’s down to a lack of quality in and around the box.

“I do my own analysis of the games and, in all of the matches we have played lately, we were still the superior side in many ways but we are allowing certain lapses and our opponents have taken their chances.

“But, this is just a setback and we’re all trying to put it right.

“It’s better now than later. We’re working hard to address our weaknesses.

“It’s also clear that the other teams are upping their game against us but they’re less effective against the other sides. I’m not stupid. I can prove this because I have the videos of the other games.

“This is the truth that we’re facing. The only way you can solve this is by showing quality as we’re having cup games every week.

“We’re working hard in training but it’s not showing in the game. As a coach, I will support and back my players. I will take full responsibility (for the team’s performances).

“We will continue to think positive and we will get positive results. I believe in my players.”

After winning back-to-back titles, Valletta began the season as surefire favourites to retain the league crown.

Their excellent start to the 2012/13 campaign led to suggestions that Valletta will walk away with the title after they won their opening six games but the Whites lost their early-season brio following a shock 1-1 draw against Rabat Ajax, the bottom team in the Premier League.

What was initially regarded as a temporary blip soon turned into a crisis as Valletta were subsequently held by Balzan, Sliema Wanderers and Tarxien Rainbows before crashing to Mosta.

Miller suggested that the weight of expectations is not helping his team’s cause. “It’s pressure, fear, a lack of confidence,” Miller replied when asked if his players are struggling psychologically.

“But, individual players have that resilience to come through difficult times. Last week, when Manchester City played Real Madrid, the crowd constantly booed Ronaldo but the boy never stopped trying, he never gave up.

“This is what we have to show. We have no problems in the camp but we need a good result to get us back on track.”

Valletta may have slipped to second in the table but they’ve been fortunate that their main title rivals, namely Birkirkara, the new leaders, and Hibs have failed to take maximum advantage of the champions’ woes.

Last weekend, Birkirkara dropped two points in a 2-2 draw with Balzan and Hibs lost all three after going down to Qormi.

“Everyone is talking about Valletta but if you look at the performances of Hibs and Birkirkara, they’ve played worse than us,” Miller said.

“The expectation is high at Valletta because of the players we have. There’s no panic setting in. The supporters are letting us know that they’re not happy with the team’s performances and we will take note of that and move on.”

Valletta’s slump has dominated the local football agenda to the point that the significance of Mosta’s win has been largely overlooked.

Two consecutive defeats had raised doubts about the Blues’ mental strength as their fellow top-six rivals upped the ante but on Saturday, they gained a tremendous boost after becoming the first team to beat Valletta this season.

“We were aware that Valletta were not only the better team but were also desperate for the points,” Mosta coach Steve D’Amato said.

“We knew that Valletta would enjoy more possession and our aim was to close the spaces and limit the supply of passes that would put pressure on our back four.

“We did that by pressing high up the pitch and trying to break forward on the counter. We had two clear chances, one when Daniel Bogdanovic hit a post and the other, from an almost identical move, that led to the winning goal.”

D’Amato acknowledged that Mosta were also under pressure to take something from their clash with Valletta after defeats to Birkirkara and Hibs slowed their top-six charge.

“The race for the Championship Pool is wide open,” D’Amato said.

“Had we failed to get something from this match, we’d have been in trouble. We set out to get a result knowing that we were in for a very difficult match against Valletta.

“The players deserve great credit for this win. We were very organised and tactically disciplined.”

Bogdanovic impact

Bogdanovic, Mosta’s high-profile summer signing, had come in for criticism after a string of low-key performances but the Malta forward capped a man-of-the match display on Saturday by providing the assist for Obinna Obiefule’s second-half winner.

“Bogdanovic has great talent,” D’Amato said. “He was unlucky in that he had this foot injury and, because of his enthusiasm, he perhaps rushed his comeback.

“But I know what Daniel can bring to our team and his performance on Saturday was his best of the season so far.”

D’Amato is convinced that Valletta’s problems will not last forever.

“Everyone knows that Valletta have a great team,” the Mosta coach said. “They are in a bit of a crisis at the moment but every team goes through a period when they’re not in top form. However, I believe that once they break this negative run, they will return to their best.”

For all the satisfaction at their victory over Valletta, D’Amato is adamant that his players will not get carried away.

“We’re still far from reaching our target of a top-six place,” D’Amato, who had never beaten Valletta in his coaching career before Saturday, said.

“The table shows that we’re on the right track and there’s no doubt that the win over Valletta is a boost for us. But, we have to keep our feet on the ground and switch focus to our Trophy game (against Hibs) this weekend before we resume our league commitments the week after.”

Statistics

Scorers, red cards

Balzan FC: Elton 8 (2 pen); Pedrinho 5 (1 pen); Licari 2; Mendy, Deanov, Caruana, Pace, Forace.
Red cards: Conceicao (vs Ħamrun), Licari (vs Hibs), Pace (vs Sliema), Forace (vs Mosta).

Birkirkara: Mifsud Triganza 6; Jhonnattan 5 (1 pen); Shodiya 3 (2 pens); R. Muscat 2, Joselito 2, Vukanac 2, Sciberras 2, Camenzuli 2; Fenech, Z. Muscat.
Red cards: Scicluna (vs Balzan), Fenech (vs Ħamrun), Herrera (vs Qormi).

Floriana: Darmanin 8; Verma 3; Cilia 2, Wasiu 2; Alhinho, Brown, Jeffers, Spiteri.
Red cards: Brown (vs Rabat), K. Farrugia (vs Mosta), Alhinho (vs Hibs).

Ħamrun Spartans: Grima 5 (3 pens); Vella 4; Calabretta 3; Scerri, Bozhov, Zerafa, Spiteri, Camilleri (pen), Yoshev.
Own goal: Gribbon (vs Melita).
Red cards: Fenech (vs Floriana), Cassar (vs Tarxien), Vitanov (vs Sliema).

Hibernians: Lima 6 (2 pens); Cohen 4; Dias 3; Pulis 2; Pisani, Soares, Levnaic, Nwoba, Farrugia, Ribeiro, Failla.
Red cards: Muscat (vs Balzan), Dias (vs Balzan), Pulis (vs Tarxien, vs Mosta).

Melita: Negrin 5; L. Micallef 2, Galea 2; Vukanic (pen), Sammut. Own goal: Pace (vs Balzan).
Red cards: Vukanic (vs Valletta), Sierra Camacho (vs Tarxien).

Mosta: Obiefule 9 (1 pen); Mitev 5; Aboulezz 2, Bogdanovic 2 (1 pen), Zongo 2 (1 pen); Bajada, Campagnoli, Apap. Own goal: Bello-Osagie (vs Qormi).
Red cards: Grech (vs Sliema), Aboulezz (vs Floriana), Dimech (vs Balzan).

Qormi: Bello-Osagie 6; Pisani 4; Spiteri 3; Siritto 2, Thackray 2; Chetcuti, Grech.

Rabat Ajax: Astrauskas 2; Fuster, Smeir, Carapic, Borg.
Red cards: Borg (vs Floriana), Brincat (vs Sliema Wanderers).

Sliema Wanderers: Woods 7 (2 pens); Ruggiero 3, Ciantar 3; Muchardi 2, Faccini 2; El Ghaouti, Barbetti, A. Muscat, Timotic, Gatt Baldacchino.
Red cards: Scerri (vs Floriana), Bonello (vs Floriana).

Tarxien Rainbows: Danilo 7; Bueno 5 (1 pen); Evaldo 3; Andrezinho 2, Tanti 2; Pulo, Bonnici, Anonam.
Red cards: Danilo (vs Sliema), Evaldo (vs Birkirkara).

Valletta: Mifsud 11 (2 pens); Gabriel 5; Fenech 3; Briffa 2, Denni 2; Caruana, Ricardo, Borg, Barbosa.
Own goal: Tufegdzic (vs Melita).

Next fixtures

U*Bet FA Trophy (third round)

Friday (Centenary Stadium) 18.00 Marsaskala vs Sta Venera; 20.00 Lija vs Għargħur. (Tedesco Stadium) 18.00 Gudja vs Senglea; 20.15 Naxxar vs Balzan.

Saturday (Centenary Stadium) 14.00 Msida vs St Andrews; 16.00 Qormi vs Pembroke. (Hibs Stadium) 14.00 Birkirkara vs Tarxien; 16.00 Hibs vs Mosta. (Tedesco Stadium) 14.00 Sliema vs Żebbuġ; 16.15 Melita vs Floriana.

Sunday (Centenary Stadium) 14.00 Gżira vs SK Victoria W.; 16.00 Żurrieq vs Mqabba. (National Stadium) 14.00 Pietà vs Rabat; 16.00 Ħamrun vs Valletta. (Sirens Stadium) 14.00 St Patrick vs Sannat; 16.15 Żejtun vs Nadur.

Current standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Birkirkara	13	8	3	2	26	12	27
Valletta	13	7	5	1	28	10	26
Hibernians	13	8	1	4	22	17	25
Mosta	13	7	1	5	24	14	22
Tarxien	13	6	3	4	22	19	21
Sliema W.	13	6	2	5	22	15	20
Balzan	13	5	4	4	20	19	19
Qormi	13	5	2	6	19	22	17
Floriana	13	4	4	5	19	19	16
Ħamrun	13	3	4	6	19	28	13
Melita	13	1	3	9	12	38	6
Rabat Ajax	13	0	4	9	6	26	4