Sliema Wanderers 0 Mosta 0
The match billed as the ultimate direct clash for the final European football berth ended in a miserable goalless draw as Sliema and Mosta disappointed at the National Stadium last night.
The match produced an exciting ending as Mosta joy for a ‘goal’ at the brink of the game turned into despair first and then relief in a dramatic string of events in stoppage time.
Sliema’s hopes to earn a victory were boosted by the return of Clifford Gatt Baldacchino, Paltemio Barbetti and Admir Vladavic who missed the 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Birkirkara. Up front, Ivan Woods was preferred to Trevor Cilia who had to settle for a place on the bench.
Enrico Piccioni’s starting XI showed one change from the 5-0 defeat to Valletta with Antonio Carrozza replacing Bojan Kaljevic, suspended.
Three minutes into the first half, Piccioni had to make his first substitution after Cristian Martins suffered what looked like a serious knee injury after falling awkwardly. Diego Pereira replaced his fellow Brazilian midfielder.
Mosta had the ball in the net after 19 minutes when Manolito Micallef hit the ball home from Rodriguez Ekani’s delivery but referee Malcolm Spiteri changed mind on his previous goal call when conferring with the additional referee Alan Mario Sant who ruled that the Mosta player had extended his arm to skew the ball into the net.
Mosta kept the initiative. They were denied by Glenn Zammit on 25 minutes as the Mosta goalkeeper pushed over the bar a pile-diver by Gianmarco Piccioni.
Sliema were quick to switch from defence to attack as Stanley Ohawuchi released Ivan Woods. The sturdy marksman cut into the box before unleashing a fierce shot which was pushed away by Omar Borg.
Mosta were seeing more of the ball and they were dangerous every time they pushed forward. Zammit was on the alert again in the 38th minute, pulling off a fine save from Pereira’s scissor-kick.
At the start of the second half, Alfonso Greco threw on John Mintoff for Jacob Borg to boost his side’s push on the flanks.
Their improvement was evident when Matias Muchardi served Ohawuchi whose acrobatic kick was cleared off the line by Tyrone Farrugia.
At the other hand, Piccioni looked out of sorts for Mosta as he wasted a string of changes to break the deadlock.
The first one shy the hour mark, when left unmarked with just Zammit to beat, dragging his effort agonisingly wide.
The second was gilt-edged, after 66 minutes, with the Italian striker’s attempt after gathering Micallef’s glorious long ball simple horrible as he shot wide off the far post of Zammit as the striker’s confidence seemed badly effected.
That lack of self-belief Piccioni was most evident when he missed a sitter with eleven minutes left. He controlled the ball from Micallef’s cross with ease and composure then, with an open goal at his mercy, he missed the target hopelessly.
A low-key match ended in mayhem when Mosta thought they had scored the winner at death when Pereira bundled the ball home from Carrozza’s cross.
The Brazilian took off his shirt as he and some of his collegues went to celebrate with the Mosta supporters, without noticing that his ‘goal’ was annulled for offside. The Wanderers transferred the ball quickly upfront for Ohawuchi who ran at the outnumbered Mosta defence. Mosta defender Ekani had no option but to haul down the Nigerian striker in the box. The defender was shown a straight red card. From the penalty spot kick, Vladavic took responsibility, only to see his effort being saved by Borg.