Birkirkara 4
Zerafa 11; Jhonnattann 35, 55; Vukanac 76;
Mosta 0

This was an emphatic statement of intent from the champions.

A defeat against bitter rivals Valletta and the shock elimination from the FA Trophy at the hands of Qormi had punctured their aura of invincibility but yesterday Bir-kirkara again turned on the style to thump high-flying Mosta in a lesson of attacking football.

Mosta are indeed an improved side since Enrico Piccioni took over. However, after a stretch of six wins in a row this proved to be an acid test for them as they failed to make the grade and match their opponents in an intimidating game that saw Birkirkara transforming a five-star display into a goal fest.

While Jhonnattann took the accolade of man of the match, this was a collective effort stemmed from the hard work of Paul Fenech in midfield and the slick movement of Shodiya Haruna as well as Edward Herrera’s frenetic pace.

It was the sort of display that had the Birkirkara faithful chanting ‘campioni, campioni’.

Paul Zammit’s decision to replace Gareth Sciberras, suspended, with Ronaille, who as a second-half substitute had left a huge influence on Birkirkara against Balzan last Sunday, necessitated some positional switches.

Haruna was deployed behind an all-Brazilian forward line made of Ronaille and Jhonnattann.

Zach Muscat was again at the heart of a three-man defence with Herrera and Joseph Zerafa moving forward to provide support from the wings.

The Mosta mentor made only one change from the Hibernians win, defender Rodriguez Ekani taking the place of midfielder Kurt Zammit who was among the substitutes. The Mosta coach favoured a straightforward 4-4-2 module with Gian Marco Piccioni and Bojan Kaljevic leading their attack.

The Blues were swept off their feet by Birkirkara’s blistering start.

Inside the first three minutes, Jhonnattann’s speculative free-kick took a wicked bounce in front of Omar Borg but the Mosta goalkeeper leapt to his left to palm away the effort.

Eight minutes later, the Stripes put their noses in front with a superb goal.

Fastening on to an accurate pass from Haruna, Zerafa raced into the box and twisted his way past Ryan Grech and Piccioni to fire into top corner.

Just past the half-hour mark, Jhonnattann floated the ball towards goal where Haruna rose above friend and foe but his header ricocheted off the crossbar.

Mosta were let off the hook but not for long. In the 35th minute, Jhonnattann illuminated the stadium when he showed some deft footwork to jink his way past Manolito Micallef and Antonio Carrozza before conjuring up a shot that had the better of the helpless Borg.

Fully aware of Mosta’s difficult moment, Piccioni tweaked his formation as he brought on Zammit for Ishmael Grech in a bid to shore up the midfield.

Mosta switched to a three-man defence.

But it was Borg who kept Mosta’s heads above water when showing fine reflexes to first beat away Jhonnattann’s grounder. He then reacted quickly to stretch his legs and deny Ronaille a clear shot on goal.

Mosta failed to break Bir-kirkara’s momentum after the break as the Stripes continued to create a plethora of chances.

Jhonnattann slipped past his marker but failed to get a decent connection with the ball and shot high and wide.

Mosta’s toils came to the fore when Borg came out of his area to try and cut out Herrera’s pass from the half-way line but the goalkeeper missed the ball, allowing Jhonnattann a clear shot at goal before completing formalities – 3-0.

Birkirkara’s onslaught continued. On 66 minutes, the woodwork came to Mosta’s rescue when substitute Ryan Camenzuli, who came on for Zerafa, hit the post with a volley after being picked out by Fenech.

There was no reprieve for Mosta and 14 minutes from time Vuka-nac got his name on his scoresheet with a close-range attempt from Haruna’s free-kick.

Birkirkara
J. Haber-6, Z. Muscat-6, N. Vukanac-6.5, J. Zerafa-6.5 (61 R. Camenzuli-6), S.S. Haruna-6.5 (80 F. Temile), A. Mendoza-6, Jhonnattann-7, P. Fenech-7.5, E. Herrera-8, Ronaille-5.5, R. Scicluna-6.5 (73 D. Zerafa).

Mosta
O. Borg-5, T. Farrugia-5, M. Brincat-5, M. Micallef-5, A. Carrozza-6, R. Ekani-6, R. Grech-5 (75 R. Faria), G. Piccioni-5 (63 Pereira-3), B. Kaljevic-6, I. Grech-5 (34 K. Zammit-4), I. Zammit-5.

Referee: Paul Caruana.

Yellow cards: Scicluna, Haber, Herrera, Muscat, Carrozza.

BOV Player of the match: Jhonnattann (Birkirkara).

Standings