Qormi 1
Leeflang 44;
Mosta 3
Zammit 45; Murga 62; De Paula 84;
Mosta were made to sweat to obtain the three points at the expense of ten-man Qormi, yesterday.
The Blues’ task should have been much easier with Qormi down to ten men for a whole hour. However, Ivan Zammit’s men found it hard to filter past a makeshift Qormi defence, ably marshalled by Ousmane Sidibe.
A reshuffle in the Mosta team, following the 1-0 defeat to Floriana, saw Rodriguez Ekani, Hasan Yau, Ian Zammit and Dyson Falzon all handed a place in the starting XI.
Mosta almost drew first blood inside the first two minutes. Manolito Micallef unleashed a testing shot from outside the area which finished wide off the far post.
Qormi’s first sniff at goal came eight minutes later but Alex Nilsson could only watch in frustration as his header crashed against the bar with Omar Borg beaten.
Mosta maintained an edge but it was Tyrone Farrugia’s good cover work that denied Qormi’s promising player Yanick Yankam.
Djamel Leeflang was a constant source of danger for the Mosta rearguard with his skilful runs but his openings were not always exploited by his team-mates.
The match took a twist past the half hour when Noah Ojuola was given his marching orders for hauling Zammit down as the striker was making a clean run at goal.
The momentum was now with Mosta but despite their efforts it was Qormi who opened the score following some hesitancy in defence by Farrugia and Adrian Borg.
The agile Leeflang was allowed to advance unimpeded before hitting past Borg.
The Blues were shocked but managed to redress the imbalance before half-time when Zammit volleyed home an Ekani cross.
Qormi tried to hold on to dear life after the break as Mosta laid siege on their opponents’ fort.
On one occasion, Zammit’s inviting ball reached Onyekachi Okonkwo whose shot was blocked by Gauci.
Then, it was the turn of Edin Murga to curse his ill-luck when the post came to Qormi’s rescue after being put through by Micallef.
But Qormi’s reprieve was temporary as Serbian midfielder Murga, on loan from Birkirkara, unleashed a swerving shot that arrowed past keeper Jean-Mathias Vella on 62 minutes.
Qormi still gave Mosta plenty to worry about though as they nearly snatched the equaliser but Carlo Monti’s long-range shot finished just wide.
Qormi tried hard to save the match but their hopes were dashed when Mosta scored their third goal.
Yau served substitute Gustavo De Paula who set off on a solo run, made his way into the box and blasted his shot past Vella.
Mosta
O. Borg-6, T. Farrugia-5, M. Micallef-6.5, O. Guobadia-7 (88 S. Fidelis), A. Borg-5, I. Zammit-6 (73 G. De Paula), H. Yau-7.5, D. Falzon-5, E. Murga-6 (78 K. Frendo), R. Ekani-6, O. Okonkwo-6.
Qormi
J. Vella-5, A. Cassar-6, O. Sidibe-6.5, N. Ojuola, Y. Yankam-6 (78 T. Gusman), D. Leeflang-6.5, C. Gauci-7, K. Magro-6, C. Monti-6, E. Vella-5, A. Nilsson-6.
Referee: Sandro Spiteri.
Yellow card: Yau.
Red card: Ojuola (Q) 33.
BOV player of the match: Ian Zammit (Mosta).