Mosta 0
Valletta 3
Mifsud 28, 55 pen.; Barbosa 67;
Michael Mifsud has a knack of delivering crucial goals.
His hat-trick in the 3-1 victory over Floriana in last year’s National League 100 Anniversary Cup was the highlight of his first stint with Valletta in season 2009/10.
Already assured of his place in local football folklore thanks to his unrivalled scoring exploits for the national team, Mifsud yesterday played a starring role on another landmark occasion for Maltese football as Valletta yesterday equalled Hibs’ unbeaten league record established in the early 1980s.
Mifsud hit another brace as the champions strolled to a straightforward 3-0 victory over Mosta to extend their undefeated run in the Premier League to 37 matches, an astonishing achievement for a club who derive a lot of pride from setting unprecedented feats.
The Blues, who have one point from four matches, tried to make a fight of it and their vibrant start did cause a few jitters for the star-studded champions but the longer the game went, the more dominant Valletta became.
While Mifsud took centre-stage thanks to his two goals, he was not alone in producing a superb performance as the likes of Denni, who was deservedly named player of the match, and Alfred Effiong also shone for the Citizens.
Victory also enabled Valletta to maintain their perfect start to the season after four matches and restore a two-point gap on Hibs whom they face in their next match.
Fireworks are expected in that first-round clash as the unbeaten Paolites will be going all out to stop rivals Valletta from breaking their record.
The sight of Ian Zammit and Kurt Magro marching towards the Valletta side of the enclosure to salute the fans drew an appreciative applause from the latter. Zammit and Magro were playing their first match against Valletta since their loan switch to Mosta.
Blues coach Oliver Spiteri handed a debut to new Brazilian signing Arilson who was preferred to Argentine Revelino Petriaggi.
Dyson Falzon deputised for Ian Azzopardi as Valletta’s first-choice left-back was deemed only fit to start on the bench. Valletta’s 4-2-3-1 formation featured Mifsud as the attacking fulcrum in front of Denni, William Barbosa and Alfred Effiong.
Mosta made an energetic start. Michel Bertrand Mvondo tested waters with an angled drive that posed no trouble to Andrew Hogg.
The Cameroonian forward then turned provider, guiding a through-pass to Arilson but Steve Borg was alert to the danger as he nudged the ball away from the Brazilian.
It didn’t take Valletta long to muster their first scoring opportunity. Effiong roared clear on the right before sending a cross into the six-yard box but Glenn Zammit, the Mosta goalkeeper, just managed to touch the ball away before Mifsud could connect.
The danger was not over for Mosta as the ball rolled to Denni who looked certain to score but Zammit performed an extraordinary save, leaping sideways to push away the Brazilian’s rising shot.
Denni then fired over from outside the box but, to their credit, Mosta were compact and constructive, striving to push forward whenever they were in possession.
Their forays unsettled Valletta who initially struggled to cope with the direct running of Mvondo and the movement of Alex Cini and Zammit on the wings.
On one occasion, Borg miscued his clearance inside the box as Mvondo applied pressure on the Valletta defender but out came Hogg to avert danger.
Valletta laboured to settle into their usual rhythm but they began to assert superiority around the 20th-minute mark and duly opened the scoring just before the half-hour.
Receiving a short pass from Mifsud, Denni embarked on a typically dazzling run, gliding past a host of players before teeing up Mifsud who rifled past Zammit from inside the Mosta box.
Another prolonged City raid ended with Denni having an angled dive pushed away for a corner by Zammit.
Mosta were now finding it increasingly difficult to make inroads into Valletta’s half as the champions remained in control but their performance hardly trans-cended the ordinary in the opening 45 minutes.
Before half-time, Effiong had the Mosta defence on the backfoot as he relied on his speed to create space for a shot but his piledriver was pawed away by Zammit.
Zammit rescued Mosta from a potentially damaging situation as he beat away Barbosa’s dangerous cross early in the second half.
All routes seemed to lead to Mosta’s goal now as Valletta intensified their pressure.
They should have doubled their lead when Falzon’s cross-cum-shot from a free-kick seeped through a sea of players with Jamie Pace probably getting a slight touch to the ball before Zammit pushed it away. Barbosa was first to the ball but blasted over from routine distance.
Mosta were let off the hook but not for long. Ten minutes into the second half, Effiong again tormented the Mosta defence with a speedy incursion but Kane Farrugia’s nudge was sufficient to throw the Nigerian off balance. Referee Malcolm Spiteri pointed to the spot and cautioned the Mosta right-back before Mifsud whacked his penalty into the corner of the net.
Cini warmed Hogg’s hands with a long-range strike but Valletta continued to dominate. Zammit pulled off two saves to deny Denni after the gifted Brazilian had run himself into good shooting positions.
Zerafa’s first substitution served up a reminder of Valletta’s strength-in-depth as club captain Gilbert Agius came on for Mifsud.
Seven minutes later, the Citizens made the points safe, Barbosa beating Zammit with a perfectly-hit grounder after Mosta had partially cleared Effiong’s pass.
Mosta
G. Zammit-6, L. Martinelli-5, K. Farrugia-5, Arilson-5.5 (74 S. Grech), N. Bogdanovic-6, I. Zammit-6, K. Magro-6, A. Cini-6, M.B. Mvondo-6.5 (90 F. Aboulezz), A. Borg-5, Y. Ossok-5.
Valletta
A. Hogg-6.5 (79 Y. Cini), J. Caruana-6.5, S. Borg-6.5, A. Effiong-7, R. Briffa-6, J. Pace-6, E. Agius-6, D. Falzon-6, Denni-8, W. Barbosa-6.5 (74 O. Zongo), M. Mifsud-7 (60 G. Agius-6.5).
Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.
Yellow cards: Falzon; Farrugia.
BOV player of the match: Denni (Valletta).
Attendance: 1,743.
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Valletta | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 12 |
| Hibernians | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 10 |
| Floriana | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| Sliema | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 8 |
| Birkirkara | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Qormi | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
| Marsaxlokk | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| Mqabba | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Balzan Youths | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
| Hamrun | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Tarxien | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
| Mosta | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 1 |