Valletta 3
Ikenna 28; Cremona 65; Barry 84;
Mosta 1
Roberts 58;

With their hopes of retaining the title as good as over, Valletta have been way below their best in the third round of the championship.

Their indifferent form has raised question marks over their levels of motivation as, essentially, the Citizens are now fighting for the platonic runners-up spot, even though Hibs’ 2-2 draw against Naxxar may give them a glimmer of hope.

Another frustrating afternoon looked on the cards for the Citizens yesterday as, for much of the opening hour of their encounter with Mosta, they lacked flair and firepower. By contrast, the Blues looked hungrier for the points as they chased another positive result to distance themselves from the relegation zone.

The Blues looked set to achieve their target when Gary Roberts hauled them back on level terms early in the second half but the goal coaxed a spirited reaction from Valletta.

What followed will have lifted the optimism of the City fans as their team, despite playing without an orthodox centre-forward, suddenly rediscovered their collective ability to unlock opposing defences with crisp passing moves and intelligent movement.

The likes of Abdelkarim Nafti, deployed as makeshift striker, Hamza Barry, Shaun Bajada, Ryan Fenech and even substitute Llywelyn Cremona were trading passes and rummaging forward at will, pinning back Mosta who didn’t have the energy and willpower to react after falling 2-1 behind.

Faced with a dearth of strikers, City coach Ivan Zammit deployed Nafti at the tip of a 4-1-4-1 formation while Hillary Hillary Ikenna sat in front of defence.

Mosta could bank on a mobile front duo in Haruna Babangida and Udo Fortune.

On the wings, coach Peter Smith also selected two players with attacking qualities as Ian Zammit manned the left flank and Roberts started on the right.

The game was less than 40 seconds old when Babangida squared to Fortune whose wayward shot glanced off Ikenna who sent the ball squirming across the six-yard box.

Fenech hit wide from a long-range free-kick but it was Mosta who threatened again.

Roberts embarked on a diagonal run from the right before hitting a reverse pass to Fortune whose angled drive was pawed away by Pietro Marino, the Valletta goalkeeper.

Roberts’s cross from the corner soared into the six-yard box where Fortune’s run had escaped the attentions of the City defenders but the Nigerian hit high from underneath the goal.

Mosta were the more enterprising side but their efforts foundered on the solid Valletta defence.

Ikenna stole the limelight on 28 minutes. Driving forward through the middle, he tried to release Barry, who had veered infield from the right, but the pass was blocked. The ball rolled back to the Nigerian who, this time, continued to advance unimpeded before picking his spot perfectly as his rasping grounder gave goalkeeper Omar Borg no chance.

With 11 minutes of the first half left, Zammit was forced into his first substitution as Roderick Briffa was unable to continue. He was re-placed by Cremona.

Mosta almost punished Valletta’s sluggish start to the second half but Fortune headed wide from point blank.

That glaring miss was a wake-up call for the lethargic Citizens. The fans, diminishing in numbers, urged the white-shirted players to lift their game.

But Mosta levelled on 58 minutes thanks to Roberts who was afforded space and time to control a pass inside the box before rifling past Marino.

It was not long before Valletta restored their lead, however. The goal was the end-product of an audacious move involving no fewer than five players and culminating in Nafti releasing the steaming Fenech whose perfect assist from the left was tapped in by Cremona.

Valletta ran up a head of steam.

Cremona’s long-range drive was off target and, with 18 minutes left, Bajada’s corner sailed towards the far post but Borg was alert to the danger.

Borg was prominent again with another smart save from Fenech’s screamer as Valletta turned the screw. And the show from the Mosta goalkeeper continued as he pulled off another point-blank intervention after Bajada’s corner appeared to come off Roberts in the six-yard box.

Valletta remained on top and their supremacy was rewarded when Barry raced into the box after going past a clutch of Mosta players before a cute flick past Borg.

Valletta
P. Marino-6.5, J. Caruana-6, I. Azzopardi-6, S. Borg-6.5, R. Camilleri-6, R. Fenech-6.5, H. Barry-6.5, R. Briffa-5.5 (34 L. Cremona-7), I. Hillary-7, S. Bajada-6.5 (86 L. Dimech), A. Nafti-7(87 K. Borg).

Mosta
O. Borg-7, T. Farrugia-6.5, R. Grech-5.5, I. Zammit-6.5, U. Fortune-5.5, H. Babangida-5 (89 A. Sammut), K. Magro-5.5 (75 A. Darbo), O. Koli-5, G. Roberts-7 (89 G. Saliba), M. Brincat-5, D. Falzon-6.

Referee: Andre Arciola.

BOV player of the match: Abdelkarim Nafti (Valletta). Attendance 744.

Standings

Playing today

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