Mosta 0
Birkirkara 0

Birkirkara’s title aspirations suffered a blow yesterday after the Premier League leaders were held to a frustrating goalless draw by ten-man Mosta.

It was a disappointing performance from the Stripes who, despite holding the initiative for the entire second half following the first-half dismissal of Danail Mitev, could not breach the solid Mosta defence who managed to repel anything Birkirkara threw at them.

Although one might argue that Birkirkara were severely handicapped by the absence of four-first team players through suspension, coach Paul Zammit will be at a loss to explain his team’s poor showing in the second half as the Stripes failed to create any serious danger to Mosta goalkeeper Jeffrey Farrugia who was never tested after the change of ends.

Birkirkara’s failure to take all points has kept the title race wide open as the third-placed Valletta, whose title defence bid looked to have ended after a 2-0 defeat to the Stripes a few weeks ago, are back in the reckoning.

A win against Tarxien this afternoon would move Valletta within three points of Birkirkara and Hibernians with the champions facing the Premier League joint-leaders in their final two matches.

For their part, Mosta will be delighted to have finally bagged their first point in the Championship Pool after seven defeats.

The draw also helped Mosta gain a degree of revenge after they suffered two humiliating 7-1 defeats to Birkirkara in their previous two meetings. It was the first positive result for Danilo Doncic since he took over from Steve D’Amato as Mosta coach.

Zammit, the Birkirkara coach, was forced to make a number of changes to his starting formation from the controversial 1-1 draw with Hibs last weekend as Alejandro Mendoza, Rowen Muscat, Paul Fenech and Rodrigo Pereira were all ruled out by suspension.

On a more positive note, Shola Haruna Shodiya, Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza and Edward Herrera were declared fit to start. It was interesting to note that Zammit named his two reserve goalkeepers, Reuben Gauci and Ini Aktpan, among his substitutes.

Doncic gave the nod to Farrugia to start in goal ahead of Noel Attard while Carlos Campagnoli was certified fit to start ahead of Bruno Chikwado who had to settle for a place on the bench.

As expected, it was Birkirkara who made all the early running but despite dominating possession, they found it hard to breach the crowded Mosta defence as Doncic’s troops were deployed in a 4-4-1-1 formation.

The Stripes threatened on 13 minutes when Herrera picked Jhonnattann inside the area and the Brazilian did well to anticipate his marker but his shot was deviated into the path of Mifsud Triganza whose low shot was cleared off the line by Tyrone Farrugia.

Five minutes later, Zach Muscat picked out Haruna on the edge of the area and the Nigerian sped through but his pass was a fraction too long for the unmarked Mifsud Triganza.

On 23 minutes, Mifsud Triganza should have put Birkirkara ahead when he created space for himself inside the area but he fired over with only Farrugia to beat.

Two minutes later, it was the turn of Jhonnattann to hit a shot at goal but his effort was too central to trouble Farrugia.

Birkirkara’s profligacy in the opening stages was almost punished by Mosta on 27 minutes when, in a quick raid, Bryan Agius nodded the ball into the path of Fabio Vignaroli but the Italian midfielder was blocked by Justin Haber.

On the half-hour Mosta goalkeeper Farrugia produced a fine acrobatic save to push over Ryan Scicluna’s piledriver.

Birkirkara were looking increasingly dangerous. On 33 minutes, Haruna released Hernandez who turned past Campagnoli but his low drive came off the post with Farrugia beaten.

Scoring chances continued to come at either end and 10 minutes from the break, Haber was forced to dive full stretch to push away Agius’s long-range shot.

A potentially turning point in the match arrived eight minutes from half-time when the grounded Mitev directed a kick towards Muscat in an off-the-ball incident and referee Fyodor Zammit showed a red card to the Mosta midfielder after consulting his assistant Roberto Vella.

After the change of ends, one expected Birkirkara to step up their game in search of a breakthrough but they looked confused in their attacking endeavours. Their only notable chance came on 58 minutes when Haruna fired wide from outside the area.

Just past the hour, Zammit effected his first change when he withdrew Hernandez and roped in Ryan Camenzuli as he looked to add speed to his team’s attacking charge.

Doncic responded by withdrawing the tiring Agius for Jonathan Bajada.

Birkirkara grew increasingly frustrated as Mosta crowded their penalty area, giving little room to the Stripes forwards.

Zammit’s next move was to bring on striker Joselito for wing-back Joseph Zerafa.

Birkirkara finally threatened three minutes from time but Nikola Vukanac, taking a more advanced role, headed wide from Haruna’s cross.

The Stripes’ last chance arrived in time added-on when Scicluna produced a rising shot from outside the area which flashed just wide as Mosta held on to gain a deserved point.

Mosta
J. Farrugia-7, F. Apap-6.5, T. Farrugia-7, B. Agius-7.5 (69 J. Bajada-5.5), M. Micallef-6.5 (76 B. Chikwado), R. Grech-6, D. Mitev, K. Magro-6.5, A. Cini-6, C. Campagnoli-6.5, F. Vignaroli-6.5 (90 S. Bezzina).

Birkirkara
J. Haber-6.5, Y. Hernandez-6 (63 R. Camenzuli-5), S. Haruna Shodiya-6, N. Vukanac-5.5, Jhonnattann-5, G. Sciberras-6, J. Zerafa-5.5 (74 Joselito), J.P. Mifsud Triganza-5, R. Scicluna-6, Z. Muscat-5, E. Herrera-6.

Referee: Fyodor Zammit.

Yellow cards: Micallef; Muscat.

Red card: Mitev (M) 37.

BOV player of the match: Jeffrey Farrugia (Mosta).

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