Marsaxlokk 0
Mqabba 4
Mamic 27, 90; Mazzitelli 28, 84;
Mqabba looked destined to go down last week before Bojan Mamic scored a last-gasp equaliser against Mosta.
Even if they are finding points harder to come by lately, with just one win from their last five matches, Mqabba have revived their hopes after thrashing Marsaxlokk 4-0 to go level with third-from-bottom Mosta on 21 points.
Billed as a must-win game against the already-doomed southseasiders, Clive Mizzi’s side hammered their opponents in a manner that will have raised the confidence of their fans for the challenges ahead.
Mizzi must have been as pleased with his team’s performance as with the way the Mqabba strikers, Mamic and Thiago Mazzitelli, grabbed their chances.
The Serbian striker was promoted to the starting line-up after rescuing a point against Mosta as Claudio Calleja and Julian Briffa were also handed first-team duties at the expense of Rene Duca and John Nwoba.
Marsaxlokk had Paul Paris and Luke Agius coming on for the suspended duo Trevor Templeman and Clive Brincat. The returning Sunday Eboh and Peter Oladotun were also in the starting team.
Mqabba enjoyed a fruitful start, taking a 2-0 lead inside the first half-hour.
Mamic latched on to a 27h minute header by Calleja before beating the challenge of Patrick Borg to plant the ball past keeper Christian Cassar.
A minute later, Mauro Bonnici directed a perfect pass to Mazzitelli who beat Cassar with a precise diagonal shot.
There was nothing of note early on except for an effort by Bonnici after 17 minutes. The Mqabba defender received the ball from Mazzitelli but his shot took a deflection off Jonathan Xerri and struck Cassar’s leg with the ball finishing wide.
Marsaxlokk’s patchy play in the first half did not brighten their prospects of recovery after ends were changed.
Buoyed by their two-goal cushion, Mqabba opted to sit back but Anton Cremona’s men still afforded them far too much time and space – which was not a surprise considering their position.
Mqabba generated some momentum after 65 minutes when Julian Briffa took flight on a solo run on the right but Cassar managed to divert his effort for a corner.
On 74 minutes, substitute David Azzopardi’s shot went just wide courtesy of a deflection.
The Reds eventually increased their lead six minutes from time when Mamic released Mazzitelli and the Brazilian hit a delicate chip over the onrushing Cassar.
Five minutes later, the Brazilian turned provider with Mamic scoring with a looping header just before the final whistle.
Marsaxlokk
C. Cassar-6, P. Borg-5, L. Agius-5, S.Eboh-5 (83 D. Grech), J. Xerri-5, M. Valeriani-5 (65 S. Borg), D. Attard-5, G. Caruana-5, P. Paris-4, A. Pedrozo-4, P. Oladotun-5 (76 C. Debattista) .
Mqabba
K. Calleja-6, J. Briffa-6.5 (68 D. Azzopardi-5), B. Timotic-6, P. Grima-6, M. Potezica-6, C. Calleja-5.5 (50 R. Duca-5), D. Fenech-6, T. Mazzitelli-7.5, B. Mamic-7, M. Bonnici-6.5 (86 M.A. Psaila), R. Sammut-6.
Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: Calleja, Caruana.
BOV player of the match: Bojan Mamic (Mqabba).