Daniel Mariano Bueno (left) ready to pounce on a loose ball. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Mosta 1
Bueno 74;
Pieta Hotspurs 0

Pieta Hotspurs were taught a harsh lesson by Mosta yesterday as a Daniel Mariano Bueno goal late on condemned the Premier League newcomers to a defeat in a match which saw them holding the upperhand for long stretches.

Mosta, buoyed by their shock victory over Valletta, were ex-pected to produce much better play but it was Noel Coleiro’s men who looked brighter.

Pieta controlled proceedings and also had good chances to find their opponents’ net and, perhaps, avoid finish empty-handed.

But failure to turn chances into goals came back to haunt Pieta as Mosta, inspired by second-half substitute James Brincat, struck on 74 minutes in a rare foray to claim the win that keeps them on maximum points from two matches

Enrico Piccioni, the Mosta coach, kept faith with the same players that shone against Valletta as new signings goalkeeper Marcos Bernal Berlanga and winger Fabio Paim were not included in the 18-man squad.

Coleiro had to do without Rafael Xavier who started a two-match ban but the Hotspurs were boosted with the arrival of two new foreign players, Gabriel and Claudio Frances. Kyle Cesare and Luke Micallef were preferred to Malcolm Licari and Dylan Agius.

Mosta almost struck after three minutes when Manolito Micallef’s throughball freed Bueno who rounded Pieta goalkeeper David Cassar but lost his balance inside the area. The referee saw nothing untoward as Bueno claimed it was a penalty.

That was the only real scoring opportunity in the opening 20 minutes as both teams showed little creativity when pushing forward.

The drought was broken on 36 minutes when in a quick break Luke Micallef sped past his direct marker and surged into the area. However, the Pietá youngster elected to shoot instead of passing to the better-positioned Gabriel only to see his effort going wide.

Two minutes from the break, the Hotspurs threatened again when Jurgen Pisani’s effort was blocked before Leonardo Fortunato avoided his marker and hit a low shot that rolled wide.

Piccioni was clearly unhappy with his team’s first-half showing and he withdrew Sasa Jovanovic and roped in Brincat as he looked to infuse some energy in his team’s attacking manoeuvres.

Pieta continued where they left off in the first half and on 48 minutes they were awarded a free-kick.

Pisani picked Christian Grech who nodded the ball into the path of Fortunato. The latter, however, miscued his header in front of a gaping goal.

Mosta threatened on 67 minutes but Kaljevic’s header was tipped over by the alert Cassar.

The Hotspurs keeper, however, was left helpless 16 minutes from time when Brincat again made inroads on the right flank before teeing up the sprinting Bueno whose shot flew inside the net.

The Hotspurs were rattled by that setback and Mosta almost struck again as Kaljevic picked Bueno whose header was somehow kept out by Cassar.

At the other end, Pieta were almost gifted an equaliser when from a Frances free-kick, Tyrone Farrugia tried to anticipate substitute Licari but his attempt to clear almost ended in his net with the ball skimming the upright.

Nine minutes from time, Pietá were unlucky not to draw level.

Frances embarked on a surging run that took him past three Mosta defenders before picking up the unmarked Licari whose rasping volley from inside the box came off the post.

Bueno should have killed off the Hotspurs in stoppage time but the Brazilian striker fired wide with only Cassar to beat.

Mosta
O. Borg-6, T. Farrugia-5.5, D. Falzon-5, R. Grech-5.5, K. Magro-6, M. Micallef-86 (87 K. Zammit), D. Bueno-6, B. Kaljevic-5 (88 K. Pulo), S. Jovanovic-5 (46 J. Brincat-7), N. Milovanovic-5, A. Borg-5.

Pietá Hotspurs
D. Cassar-6.5, C. Attard-6, C. Grech-6, L. Fortunato-7, J. Pisani-6.5, R. Rodrigues Da Silva-6, T. Agius-6, K. Cesare-6 (65 M. Licari-6), L. Micallef-6 (80 D. Agius), Gabriel-6 (72 Q. Refalo), C. Frances-6.

Referee: Mario Apap.

Yellow cards: Frances, Jovanovic, Kaljevic, Grech, Attard, Agius, Rodrigues Da Silva.

BOV Player of the match: Leonardo Fortunato (Pieta Hotspurs).