Mosta 0
Sliema Wanderers 2
Laudisi 39; Mifsud 80;
This Sliema victory somewhat alleviated the upset of missing out on the fourth round of the FA Trophy as the Wanderers leapfrogged Mosta into fifth place to boost their Championship Pool prospects.
On the other hand, Mosta’s season lurched from disappointing to disastrous yesterday.
Out of the contention for the FA Trophy, Steve D’Amato’s side were banking on a good run in the league to justify their summer spending spree.
Yet again, Mosta failed to deliver the kind of stirring performance expected of a team boasting some of the country’s most gifted players.
Now, the pressure is on D’Amato who knows that Mosta’s success this season depends mostly on a top-six finish but nothing was on display at the Tedesco Stadium last night to suggest that is a viable option.
Sliema coach Alfonso Greco had a full squad at his disposal and the Italian made five alterations from the team that started against Żebbuġ in the cup.
He deployed Paltemio Barbetti in front of a four-man defence with Ivan Woods leading the forward line in a 4-1-4-1 module.
D’Amato was forced to field a makeshift defence due to the absence of regulars Luke Dimech, Bryan Agius and Steve Bezzina.
Brazilian midfielder Carlos Campagnoli was dropped back to centre-half alongside Steve Chiemeka in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Jonathan Bajada, Daniel Bogdanovic and Danail Mitev all operating behind striker Obinna Obiefule.
Sliema almost scored one the cheekiest goals this season had Alex Muscat’s shot from the halfway line not found Justin Haber, the Mosta goalkeeper, up to the task.
Haber had to be at his best again midway through the half to push away Stefano Bianciardi’s header from Barbetti’s free-kick.
Six minutes from half-time, Ruggiero released Ariel Laudisi in the box and the latter placed the ball past an advancing Haber for the Wanderers to break the stalemate.
Moments later, Bogdanovic released Bajada on a gallop deep into Sliema territory but his delivery from the left found no takers as his effort crossed the face of goal before being cleared away.
As the minutes trickled by, D’Amato threw caution to the wind by reverting to a three-man defence and pushing more men upfield with the introduction of Ousseni Zongo.
Having forced to make two substitutions in the first half-hour – Glenn Zammit replacing Henry Bonello (he limped out of the game with what looked a serious ankle injury) and Andrew Decesare taking the place of Muscat – Greco made his third change on 65 minutes with Josef Mifsud coming on for Mark Scerri, switching to a five-man defence.
By now the Wanderers were on the back foot with Mosta applying the pressure.
On 70 minutes, Zongo latched on to a cross-field pass from Grech to set up Bogdanovic who shot just wide.
Five minutes later, Bajada chipped the ball towards the centre of the area and Obiefule complemented the move with an acrobatic kick that just failed to beat Zammit.
After 78 minutes, Mitev’s thunderous free-kick finished just wide of Sliema’s goal.
But two minutes later, Barbetti flicked the ball into the middle and Mifsud struck a stunning volley home from the edge of the box.
His shot floated into the top corner – a truly remarkable finish for a defender.
Mosta
J. Haber-6, A. Cini-5, M. Micallef-5, S. Chiemeka-5 (60 O. Zongo-4), R. Grech-5.5, J. Bajada-6.5 (86 W. Chetcuti), D. Mitev-5, F. Aboulezz-5 (70 K. Zammit-4), C. Campagnoli-6, D. Bogandovic-4, O. Obiefule-6.
Sliema Wanderers
H. Bonello-5 (23 G. Zammit-6), A. Muscat-5 (30 A. Decesare-6), L. Martinelli-6, P. Barbetti-7.5, M. Scerri-6 (65 J. Mifsud-7), L. Ruggiero-7.5, C. Gatt Baldacchino-6, I. Woods-5, A. Laudisi-7, B. Muscat-6, S. Biancardi-7.
Referee: Fyodor Zammit.
Yellow cards: Grech, Haber, Bajada, Martinelli, Cini, Ruggiero.
BOV Player of the match: Luigi Ruggiero (Sliema Wanderers).