Mqabba 3
Calleja 20; Muscat 22; Mamic 90 pen
Marsaxlokk 0
Mqabba maintained their charge towards survival as two quick goals midway through the first half put them on their way to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Marsaxlokk.
Inspired by the hard-working Thiago Mazzitelli, Mqabba struck in quick succession to seize control against a Marsaxlokk side that lacked decisive strength to get back in contention.
Mqabba coach Clive Mizzi was forced to make two changes to the team that beat Mosta 1-0 last Monday as Marco Potezica and John Nwoba were both ruled out with a one-match ban.
Jonathan Xerri and Sacha Borg were back in Marsaxlokk’s starting formation while Trevor Templeman and Clive Brincat were not in the squad.
Mqabba were soon on the offensive and on eight minutes Muscat released Mazzitelli who burst inside the area but his drive flashed wide.
At the other end, Marsaxlokk came close to a breakthrough when Peter Oladotun put Gary Caruana through but he fired wide.
Mqabba’s early ascendancy was rewarded on 20 minutes when Mazzitelli released Claudio Calleja who turned past Cassar before depositing inside an empty net.
Marsaxlokk were shocked and two minutes later they fell further behind. Calleja picked Muscat who raced past two defenders and his low shot rolled into the net.
The match lost much of its allure as Mqabba administered their lead with relative ease with Marsaxlokk looking short of ideas in attack.
Six minutes from the break, Muscat should have further extended Mqabba’s lead when he found himself in ample space but his shot lacked precision. The veteran striker missed another sitter on the stroke of half-time, this time he headed the ball over with only Cassar to beat.
Marsaxlokk looked better at the restart and in the first minute Alex Pedrozo released Stoskovic who headed wide.
The southerners then won a corner, taken by Stoskovic, and Jean Paul Farrugia headed wide.
Sensing the improvement, Cremona withdrew Sacha Borg and roped in Valeriani as he looked to add more speed to his team’s play.
But it was Mqabba who threatened when substitute Marlon Briffa served Mamic whose effort was pushed to a corner by Cassar. From the flag-kick, Branislav Timotic’s header was stopped by the keeper.
Cremona’s men then shouted penalty on 82 minutes when Stoskovic was upended in the box by Ryan Sammut but referee Adrian Azzopardi saw nothing untoward.
Late on, it was Mqabba who were awarded a penalty Marlon Briffa was floored by Jonathan Xerri inside the penalty area. Mamic stepped up for the kick and drilled the ball past Cassar.
Mqabba: K. Calleja-6, P. Grima-6.5, J. Briffa-6 (70 R. Sammut-6), B. Timotic-6.5, M.A. Psaila-6, T. Mazzitelli-7.5, C. Calleja-6.5 (84 D. Azzopardi), J.P. Muscat-6.5 (60 M. Briffa-6.5) M. Bonnici-6.5, D. Fenech-7, B. Mamic-6.5.
Marsaxlokk: C. Cassar-5, J. Brincat-5, S. Borg-5 (56 M. Valeriani-5), S. Eboh-6, J. Xerri-5, G. Caruana-6, J.P. Farrugia-6, L. Agius-5, P. Oladatun-6 (87 S. Cutajar), N. Stoskovic-6.5, A. Pedrozo-6.
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: Borg, Agius, J. Briffa, Valeriani.
BOV Player of the match: David Fenech (Mqabba).