Balzan 1
Bilbao Zarate 49;
Mosta 0

Balzan leapfrogged Mosta into fourth place after recording an uplifting 1-0 victory in a tense game.

Oliver Spiteri’s men had to wait 10 games and three months to register their fifth league win as they overcame Mosta who played with 10 men for an hour following the dismissal of striker Bojan Kaljevic.

For their part, Mosta have slipped to back-to-back defeats for the first time since Peter Smith replaced Enrico Piccioni at the helm.

Balzan prevailed thanks to Edison Bilbao Zarate’s lob early in the second half as Mosta failed to produce a decent reaction despite their superior possession.

The only change in Balzan’s starting XI was enforced on Spiteri as Ryan Darmanin replaced the half-fit Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza who started on the bench.

Darmanin was deployed in the centre of attack with Gianmarco Piccioni and Oscar Guerrero on the wings in a 4-1-2-3 approach.

Smith’s team showed three changes from the 2-1 defeat in the derby against Naxxar Lions. Defender Tyrone Farrugia returned to the Mosta line-up after serving a one-match ban.

The Blues lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with the returning Pedrinho partnering Matteus in attack as Kurt Zammit was brought back into midfield to replace Ryan Grech, suspended.

There was little of note in the opening exchanges but Mosta’s task became more complicated when, after 28 minutes, Kaljevic was shown a straight red card for hitting out at Elkin Serrano Valero after the two were involved in a tussle for possession.

Balzan came close to breaking the deadlock in their first noteworthy attack three minutes from half-time. Darmanin met Justin Grioli’s service with a header but the ball crashed against the goal frame.

Balzan were not to be denied four minutes after the break.

Picking up a loose ball from a Mosta clearance, Zarate beat the advancing Omar Borg with a fine lob.

Spiteri’s troops maintained a stranglehold on the game as the lethargic Mosta failed to summon a reaction. Barely three minutes later, Borg produced a smart save to parry away Osa Guobadia’s drive.

Mosta did step up their efforts as they looked for an equaliser.

Pedrinho went close to restoring parity as his swerving free-kick grazed the upright. When Mosta broke on the counter seven minutes later, Balzan looked vulnerable as Matteus dashed across the box only to fire over the bar.

Three minutes from time, Mosta should have equalised when Matteus sped clear before shooting straight into Balzan goalkeeper Steve Sultana’s hands.

In a tense finale, Mosta finished the game with nine men after Pedrinho earned his second yellow card before Oscar Guerrero followed suit for time-wasting.

The match ended on a sour note as there were some incidents involving supporters of both clubs outside the stadium.

In the VIP area of the Tedesco Stadium, a Mosta fan and club official, still angry at referee Mario Apap over his decision to send off Kaljevic in the first half, had to be restrained by the police following some vivid protests as the match officials left the pitch.

Balzan
S. Sultana-6, E.S. Valero-6.5, S. Bezzina-6, O. Guobadia-6.5, E. Bilbao Zarate-7.5, J.Grioli-6, C. Brincat (21 S. Arab-6), O. Guerrero, R. Darmanin-6 (66 L. Micallef-5), G. Piccioni-4.5, L. Sciberras-6 (73 M. Borg).

Mosta
O. Borg-5.5, R. Ekani-6, T. Farrugia-5.5, M. Brincat-6, K. Pulo-5 (46 Y. Lo-5), N. Milovanovic-5, K. Magro-6, K. Zammit-6 (82 J. Brincat), B. Kaljevic, Matteus-6.5, Pedrinho.

Referee: Mario Apap.

Yellow cards: Pedrinho; Magro; Ekani; Guerrero; Bilbao; Lo; Bezzina; Micallef.

Red cards: Kaljevic (M) 28; Pedrinho (M) 90; Guerrero (B) 90+.

BOV player of the match: Edison Bilbao Zarate (Balzan).

Attendance: 493.

Standings

  P W D L F A Pts
Hibernians 16 15 1 0 51 8 46
Valletta 15 9 1 5 35 11 28
Birkirkara 15 9 1 5 27 16 28
Balzan 16 5 7 4 19 21 22
Floriana 16 5 6 5 25 31 21
Mosta 16 6 2 8 16 30 20
Sliema W.  15 5 4 6 16 18 19
Naxxar L. 16 4 5 7 20 24 17
Qormi 15 4 5 6 16 24 17
Tarxien R. 16 3 7 6 16 24 16
Pietà H. 16 3 5 8 13 27 14
Żebbuġ R.  16 1 6 9 18 38 9

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.