Floriana’s Gary Muir (left) holds off Mosta’s Ousman Koli. Photos: Paul Zammit Cutajar

Floriana 2
Coronado 1; Piciollo 88;
Mosta 2
Borg 90+3, 90+4;

Adrian Borg emerged as Mosta’s hero yesterday as the defender scored two goals in stoppage time to hand the Blues a precious point against Floriana.

It was an unexpected outcome to a match that was heading Floriana’s way. The Greens looked to have done enough to wrap up the points after goals from Igor Coronado and Matteo Piciollo had put them firmly in command.

But the Blues kept battling until the end and their efforts were rewarded at the death. Mosta are now one point clear of third-from-bottom Tarxien but they are not safe as the fight to avoid a rele-gation/promotion play-off against Gżira on May 15 will be decided on the last day of the season.

The tight situation in the bottom half of the table means that Mosta must beat neighbouring rivals Naxxar Lions in their final match to secure their Premier League status.

Floriana coach Giovanni Tedesco was boosted by the return from suspension of goalkeeper Matthew Calleja Cremona and striker Vito Plut. They were recalled to the starting formation at the expense of Valerio Senatore, who was among the substitutes, and the injured Manolito Micallef.

Young Neil Spiteri was given the nod to replace Steve Bonnici who failed to recover from a knee injury.

Peter Smith, the Mosta coach, also had some key personnel making a return as attacking duo Haruna Babangida and Michael Dawood were declared fit to start with Karl Pulo and Zach Brincat the two players making way.

Tyrone Farrugia, ruled out with a one-match ban, was replaced by the returning Rodriguez Ekani.

Floriana were off to a flyer as, after just one minute, Coronado chested the ball and let fly a rasping drive that gave Omar Borg no chance.

Mosta tried to hit back. On 15 minutes, Babangida forced his way past his marker but his effort was deflected wide by Dawood with Calleja Cremona beaten.

The match suddenly entered a spell of mediocrity.

Six minutes from the break, Ekani released Kurt Magro on the edge of the area but his deflected header was blocked by Calleja Cremona.

That turned out to be Magro’s last contribution as two minutes later, he was replaced by Kyle Frendo, a substitution that angered the on-loan Valletta midfielder.

After a rather low-key first-half display Mosta had to step up their game and on 50 minutes they came close to an equaliser.

From a corner action, Dyson Falzon’s delivery was met by Babangida but his volley was cleared off the line by Douglas.

Calleja Cremona came to Floriana’s rescue on 57 minutes, effecting a fine one-handed save from Dawood’s header.

On 64 minutes, Mosta had another excellent chance to level as Falzon picked out Babangida in the box but the Nigerian fired wide with only Calleja Cremona to beat.

Ten minutes from time, the Floriana keeper again denied Mosta when blocking Dawood’s drive.

Floriana should have killed off their opponents five minutes from time when, in a swift raid, Piciollo put Plut clear but the Slovenian fired over with only Borg to beat.

Mosta failed to heed the alarm bells and on 88 minutes, Douglas’s through-ball sent Piciollo clear and the Italian showed great composure to drill the ball past Borg.

Mosta looked dead and buried but Borg handed them a lifeline in the third minute of stoppage time when he bundled the ball home from Ekani’s cross.

The Blues threw everyone forward and, a minute later, the unexpected materialised when Udo Fortune’s shot took a deflection and Borg was on hand to tap home.

Floriana
M. Calleja Cremona-7, D. Cobo-6, E. Marcelina-6, V. Plut-6.5, I. Coronado-6 (67 G. Muir-6), M. Piciollo-6 (90 L. Gatt), C. Borg-6, N. Spiteri-6, E. Briffa-5.5, G. Galea-5 (46 L. Micallef-5), S. Borg-6.

Mosta
O. Borg-6, M. Brincat-5.5, D. Falzon-6.5, O. Koli-5 (78 K. Pulo), K. Magro-5 (42 K. Frendo-5), U. Fortune-5.5, A. Borg-7, R. Grech-5.5 (82 J. Brincat), H. Babangida-6, M. Dawood-6.5, R. Ekani-6.

Referee: Sandro Spiteri.

Yellow cards: Marcelina; L. Micallef.

BOV player of the match: Matthew Calleja Cremona (Floriana).