Birkirkara captain Paul Fenech loses his balance after a challenge from Mosta’s Rodriguez Ekani. Photo: Matthew MirabelliBirkirkara captain Paul Fenech loses his balance after a challenge from Mosta’s Rodriguez Ekani. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Mosta 0
Birkirkara 3
Camenzuli 17; Ledesma 29; Haruna 82;

Birkirkara made it two wins out of two in this third and final round of the BOV Premier League after outclassing Mosta in a one-sided encounter, yesterday.

It was a dominant performance from Birkirkara who were a cut above their opponents for most of the encounter with man-of-the-match Edward Herrera an inspiration to his team-mates and Shola Haruna creating havoc in a static Mosta defensive guard.

In fact, the Blues were never in contention as they looked a disjointed lot and rarely threatened the Birkirkara goal.

On the other hand, the Stripes looked very convincing when going forward and created several scoring opportunities. Birkirkara could have easily registered a more pronounced victory yesterday had it not been for a series of excellent saves from Mosta goalkeeper Omar Borg.

In the end, Birkirkara chalked up three useful points that saw them retaining their grasp on the runners-up spot and at the same time maintaining their outside chances for the title after cutting the leeway with runaway leaders Hibernians to eight points.

Birkirkara coach Paul Zammit handed a start to defender Joseph Zerafa and Brazilian forward Rafael Ledesma who had missed their team’s 1-0 defeat of Naxxar Lions last week.

Dutch forward Nassir Maachi and Edmond Agius were the two players who were dropped to the bench.

Team skipper Gareth Sciberras declared himself fit to be included in the 18-man squad and started among the substitutes.

Mosta mentor Peter Smith effected just one change from the team that drew with Balzan in their last match as Gambian midfielder Alieu Darbo was recalled to fill the void left by Ryan Grech who was serving a one-match ban.

Birkirkara created the first opportunity after 12 minutes when Herrera sent an inviting ball into the path of Haruna who headed just over.

Mosta failed to heed the alarm bells as five minutes later Birkirkara struck.

Herrera again made headway down the right flank and into the box before releasing Ryan Camenzuli who stabbed the ball into the roof of the net.

The goal rattled Mosta who looked unable to produce any kind of reaction and it was no surprise that Birkirkara doubled their advantage just before the half-hour mark.

Herrera did all the damage again as the pacey wingback skipped past his marker before picking up Camenzuli who saw his header coming off the upright. Ledesma, however, was first to the rebound and he wriggled his way past two defenders before beating Borg.

Birkirkara continued to dominate proceedings and on 39 minutes Paul Fenech broke through from the left and sent a low cross into the path of Camenzuli whose thumping drive was pushed away from Borg. Camenzuli pounced on possession but this time his grounder went wide.

On the restart, Smith tried to infuse some impetus into his team’s attack when he withdrew the subdued Darbo and brought on Udo Fortune as Mosta switched to a three-pronged attack.

Birkirkara continued to hold the initiative, however, and Herrera should have added a third goal when he was put through by Zerafa but he mistimed his lob with only goalkeeper Borg to beat.

Mosta came close to pulling one back on 52 minutes when Michael Dawood sped clear on the right before crossing the ball towards Kurt Magro who was anticipated by Justin Haber, the goalkeeper making the ball his on a second attempt.

Borg continued to deny Birkirkara a third goal when keeping out a thumping Camenzuli volley and soon after Ledesma missed a golden opportunity when he was left unmarked inside the area but he headed wide from another Herrera delivery.

Mosta were trying hard to apply some pressure on Birkirkara but despite managing a couple of breakthroughs they were always let down by the final delivery.

The Stripes finally put paid to Mosta’s hopes of a recovery eight minutes from time.

Substitute Maachi produced a burst of pace that took him past his marker before sending a low cross into the path of Agius who was quick to set up Haruna with an audacious back-heel. The Nigerian had little trouble to blast the ball in and make it 3-0.

Mosta almost conceded again when Kurt Zammit, a late substitute for Birkirkara, showed some deft footwork to free his way into the box but fired over from routine distance.

Mosta
O. Borg-6, I. Zammit-4, R. Ekani-4.5, M. Brincat -4, M. Dawood-5, A. Darbo-4 (46 U. Fortune-5), D. Falzon-5, K. Pulo-5 (54 O. Koli-5), G. Roberts-6, K. Magro-6 (85 J. Brincat), T. Farrugia-5.

Birkirkara
J. Haber-6, E. Herrera-7.5, N. Vukanac-6, S. Haruna-6.5 (85 K. Zammit), R. Ledesma-6.5 (70 E. Agius), P. Fenech-6.5, Z. Muscat-6, R. Muscat-6, R. Camenzuli-6 (78 N. Maachi), J. Zerafa-6.5, M. Latini Mazzetti-6.

Referee: Mario Apap.

Yellow cards: Zerafa, Fenech, Z. Muscat, Borg.

BOV Player of the match: Edward Herrera (Birkirkara).

Standings

  P W D L F A Pts
Hibs 24 21 3 0 75 14 36
Birkirkara 24 15 4 5 45 22 28
Valletta 24 15 2 7 56 21 25
Balzan 24 10 8 6 38 35 21
Floriana 24 9 8 7 42 42 21
Sliema  24 8 7 9 30 34 18
Mosta 24 7 5 12 25 47 14
Pietà H. 24 5 7 12 20 39 12
Żebbuġ  24 5 6 13 28 58 12
Naxxar 24 5 7 12 27 37 11
Tarxien 24 4 9 11 25 43 11
Qormi 24 4 6 14 24 43 9

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