Mosta 2
Campagnoli 57; Bogdanovic 86;
Balzan 0

Speculation is rife that Mosta are prepared to part with their most prized assets during the January transfer window.

Although Mosta were coming from a straightforward 3-0 win over Ħamrun, the rumours certainly didn’t make the job of coach Steve D’Amato any easier as he prepared his team for their clash with Balzan.

D’Amato and the Mosta fans will have been concerned that the uncertainty surrounding the future of the likes of Luke Dimech, goalkeeper Justin Haber and Daniel Bogdanovic could distract their players from the important matter of their Championship Pool pursuit, also taking into account that Balzan were desperate for a win to re-ignite their top-six hopes.

Such fears looked justified as, for much of the first half, Mosta were lacking in motivation while Balzan faded after a promising start.

Mosta did up the ante in the second half and Carlos Campagnoli’s opener settled their fraught nerves before Bogdanovic put some gloss on an otherwise sluggish performance by the Blues.

Balzan were generally low-key but, with Mosta failing to press home their second-half supre-macy, the Reds had a host of scoring chances, especially from set-pieces, but these fell to defenders and their finishing was wayward.

With this win, Mosta have significantly improved their top-six hopes as they leapfrogged Sliema and Tarxien into fourth place but the latter have a game in hand.

Balzan’s third defeat in a row represents a hammer blow to their Championship Pool bid as they are six points away from sixth place.

Balzan coach Ivan Zammit had no option but to reshuffle his pack as suspension deprived him of Jamie Pace and Renato Conceicao while Renie Forace, Stefan Giglio and Martin Deanov were injured.

Pedrinho, who has been linked with a move to Valletta, returned from suspension to take up his usual roaming duties behind Elton with Christian Caruana stationed behind the front duo.

Aaron Agius, Jonathan Francica and Dylan Grima were also included in Balzan’s starting XI.

Mosta’s line-up showed three changes from the 3-0 defeat of the Spartans. Defender Steve Chiemeka got D’Amato’s nod ahead of Ferdinando Apap while Ryan Grech, back from suspension, and Bogdanovic replaced Kurt Zammit and Ousseni Zongo who were not in the squad.

The match was preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of Ronnie Attard, the former MFA technical director who died last week.

Five minutes into the game, Haber dashed out of his goal to block the run of the advancing Elton who was clean through. The Mosta no.1 managed to get his body in the way of the Brazilian but the rebound fell back to Elton who was then dispossessed by Chiemeka.

Elton then skied his shot over the bar from Pedrinho’s corner. Balzan continued to fashion the better chances, Agius firing over from just outside the box.

It was not before the 20th minute that Mosta created a notable chance. Bogdanovic’s measured cross unhinged the Balzan defence as the ball sailed towards the far post but Obiefule’s header grazed the crossbar.

At the other end, Yessous Camilleri headed over after meeting Pedrinho’s left-wing corner.

The game continued to ebb and flow. Bogdanovic summoned an exquisite shot from a wide position but the ball flew wide of the near post.

The movement of the Mosta forwards and wingers in the opening half-hour suggested that they were under instructions to switch positions in a bid to unsettle the Balzan defence. Obiefule was the attacking spearhead but the likes of Bogdanovic, Danail Mitev and Alex Cini engaged in a lot of interchanging as D’Amato opted for 4-3-3.

By and large, the first half was balanced with Mosta showing signs of improvement. On the brink of half-time, Fredrick Tabone, the Balzan goalkeeper, pawed away Mano Micallef’s cross-shot.

As the two teams headed for the dressing-rooms, a Mosta fan in the VIP zone was heard urging Bogdanovic and Obiefule to raise their game. Indeed, many of Mosta’s players were below their best in that opening half.

However, 12 minutes into the second half, Mosta opened the scoring. Having won a free-kick after his progression was halted by Francica, Bogdanovic unleashed a powerful drive that was half-parried by Tabone. From the melee, Campagnoli flicked the ball into the net.

Mosta pressed for more and Balzan were let off the hook when Mitev’s free-kick was diverted onto the crossbar by Elton before the defenders cleared for a corner.

Balzan had a good opportunity to level matters but Mendy hit wide at the far post from a corner.

The Blues also missed a good chance to double their lead when Obiefule met Bogdanovic’s delivery but the Nigerian’s header was stopped by Tabone.

Unimpressed by his team’s lacklustre performance, Zammit made two substitutions, Rodrigo Consani and Malcolm Licari coming on for Agius and Caruana.

Licari’s first contribution was to advance on the right before floating a dangerous cross that Micallef cleared with some difficulty.

With 17 minutes remaining, Balzan ought to have restored equilibrium when Pedrinho’s set-piece cross from the right soared above the Mosta defenders and into the path of Camilleri who nodded wide with only Tabone to beat.

This episode was an eye-opener for Mosta not to rest on their laurels as the game was still wide open. Bogdanovic should have closed the game when picked out by Cini but volleyed over.

Seven minutes from time, Pedrinho underlined his shooting prowess as his free-kick was pushed away by Haber. Mendy then headed wide from point-blank distance after meeting Pedrinho’s set-piece cross.

Mosta applied the killer blow four minutes from time when Cini played Micallef through on the right and the latter’s perfect ball was headed in by the unmarked Bogdanovic.

Mosta
J. Haber-6.5, S. Chiemeka-6.5, O. Obiefule-5, R. Grech-6 (90 F. Apap), D. Mitev-5.5, M. Micallef-6.5, D. Bogdanovic-6, A. Cini-6.5, B. Agius-5.5, L. Dimech-6.5, C. Campagnoli-7.

Balzan
F. Tabone-5, A. Agius-5.5 (66 R. De Barros Consani-5), Y. Camilleri-6, M. Mendy-5.5, J. Francica-6, B. Bondin-5, D. Grima-5, C. Caruana-5 (70 M. Licari-5.5), Pedrinho-6.5, Elton-5, J. Borg-5 (83 C. Micallef).

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.

Yellow cards: Mendy; Francica; Cini.

BOV player of the match: Daniel Bogdanovic (Mosta).

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.