Qormi 1
Jorginho 84;
Tarxien Rainbows 0
Qormi bounced back from their shock defeat against Marsaxlokk as they edged out Tarxien Rainbows 1-0 to cement their position at the top of the Relegation Pool.
A superb free-kick by Jorginho six minutes from time settled a close game that saw good quality from both teams but few clear-cut chances.
Qormi coach Stephen Azzopardi made sweeping changes following his team’s timid display against Marsaxlokk. Matthew Bartolo, Luke Sciberras and Stephen Wellman were named as substitutes while Kenneth Scicluna and Federico Mirarchi were absent due to suspension and injury respectively.
Despite the overhaul, Qormi still possessed plenty ammunition with Jorginho taking up the central attacking role in a 4-2-3-1 module that featured three attacking midfielders, Joseph Chetcuti, Triston Caruana and the returning Abubakar Bello-Osagie.
On the other side, Patrick Curmi’s selection underlined his belief in the old football saying of ‘you should never change a winning side’.
Confirming the formation that began the 1-0 victory over Mqabba, Curmi left Karl Pulo on the bench despite his match-winning role against Clive Mizzi’s side. With Everton suspended, Orosco Anonam again switched to central defence to partner Ryan Mintoff as the Tarxien mentor opted for a 4-4-2 formation.
The Rainbows started brightly. Leonardo De Castro’s raking cross-shot from the right flashed past the far post with Daniel Mariano Bueno arriving late to make contact with the ball on 10 minutes.
But Qormi soon settled and forged a succession of chances. Chetcuti smashed the ball over the bar when he could have just tapped it in after 15 minutes. Seven minutes later, Jorginho fired straight at the Tarxien keeper from 25 metres out.
Tarxien were dealt a blow when Anonam was forced off by injury to be replaced by Pulo as Carlo Mamo dropped to the back four.
In the opening minutes of the second period, Ricardo’s sweeping pass picked out the advancing Bueno on the right and the latter’s piledriver forced Matthew Farrugia into a smart save. From the ensuing corner, Ricardo headed into the path of Bueno who hit wide.
Qormi were beginning to boss proceedings with Jorginho enjoying some space on Tarxien’s right and Joseph Farrugia grabbing the initiative in the middle of the park.
In the 63rd minute, Farrugia swooped at the far post, connecting to Jorginho’s swinger with an acrobatic flick that sent the ball towards Chetcuti who pushed it goalwards but Mamo headed to safety.
Bueno continued to be the Rainbows’ stand-out man as the game wore on, cutting in from the right before sending a fierce right-footed drive which went just wide.
Bello-Osagie’s pace down Tarxien’s right continued to cause problems but his rasping drive skimmed the bar on 66 minutes.
At this point, Azzopardi brought on Matthew Bartolo for defender Ranier Buhagiar, pulling back Kris Thackray as Qormi tried to step up their attacking momentum.
And seven minutes from time, Pulo sent Caruana crashing to end his venture towards the Rainbows area. The free-kick was awarded in perfect Farrugia territory.
Everybody expected the Qormi skipper to shoot but it was Jorginho who took the free-kick, curling his shot over the wall and out of Nicky Vella’s reach as the ball sailed into the net.
Qormi held out with relative ease to go eight points clear of the relegation zone, albeit second-from-bottom Mqabba have a game in hand.
Qormi
M. Farrugia-6, R. Sammut-6, J. Farrugia-5, R. Buhagiar-6 (67 M. Bartolo-4), J. Chetcuti-6.5 (90 G. Chircop), J. Bondin-6, Jorginho-7.5, T. Caruana-7, V. Kouadio-5, K. Thackray-7,A. Bello-Osagie-6.5 (84 L. Sciberras).
Tarxien Rainbows
N. Vella-6, S. Sadowski-5, C. Mamo-6.5, Ricardo Costa-7, J. Mayasi-6.5, D. M. Bueno-7, M. Tanti-6 (60 S. Giglio-4), L. De Castro-7, O. Anonam-6 (43 K. Pulo-5), R. Mintoff-6, J. Grioli-5.
Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: Pulo; Farrugia.
BOV player of the match: Jorginho (Qormi).
Attendance: 693.