Mosta 0
Qormi 4
Vella 47; Temile 54, 62; Effiong 61;
Qormi beat a lacklustre Mosta to earn their second win this season and put some pressure on Blues coach Enrico Piccioni who seemed to have lost his magic touch after succumbing to a second defeat in a matter of days.
Qormi deserved their win as they were rock-solid in defence and deadly on the counter with Alfred Effiong and Frank Temile a constant menace to the lacklustre Blues.
Marcus Bernal, the Mosta keeper, had dealt with everything that the sprightly Qormi threw at him in a generally one-sided first half but this laid the platform for Josef Mansueto’s side to go on rampage, unleashing a four-goal blitz in 14 minutes after the break.
Qormi’s initial formation featured two changes from the 4-0 defeat to Valletta as Maurizio Mazzetti and Bjorn Bondin re-placed Albert Bruce and Roderick Sammut respectively.
Qormi were set up in a 3-5-2 module with Temile and Effiong in attack and Duncan Pisani and Emerson Vella the wing-backs.
Pedrinho was given the chance to bolster his claim for a first-team place after the Brazilian forward was named in the starting XI, replacing Bojan Kaljevic, out suspended.
It was the only change in the Mosta side from the 2-0 defeat against Birkirkara. Their 4-1-4-1 formation had Daniel Mariano Bueno as the attacking fulcrum with Manolito Micallef and Kurt Magro deployed on the flanks.
A promising opening beckoned Qormi when Effiong, venturing upfield, won a duel with Adrian Borg but the striker should have done better when face-to-face with the goalkeeper as he concluded badly at the far post.
Mosta’s overworked defence began to crack with the match approaching the half-hour mark. Temile pounced on a misplaced backpass by Nemanja Milovanovic before the Mosta goalkeeper gathered his curling shot as Chetcuti failed to hit home from the rebound.
Qormi continued to excel and another flowing move saw Effiong shooting straight into the hands of Bernal.
Mosta looked uneasy but on 35 minutes they should have taken the lead when Borg met Tyrone Farrugia’s cross, only to head wide.
Qormi must have felt hard done by going into the break without taking the lead but two minutes after they headed out of the changing rooms Vella evaded the attentions of a jittery Farrugia as he played a one-two with Chetcuti before firing low past Bernal.
Seven minutes later, Mosta’s evening took a turn for the worst when Qormi doubled their lead as Temile arrowed a stinging drive over the goalkeeper from inside the box.
As Mosta struggled to summon a reaction, Qormi landed the coup de grace.
Effiong was prominent when setting off on a typically fast run that took him past a posse of Mosta men before placing the ball inside the net.
Mosta’s misery deepened moments later, when Chetcuti won possession in midfield and next to no time he transferred the ball in attack where Temile progressed into the box and rifled a shot past the helpless Bernal.
Qormi
M. Farrugia-6, J. Bondin-6, Anderson- 6.5, E. Vella-6.5 (72 S. Agius), D. Pisani-6, B. Bondin-6, J. Chetcuti-6 (79 C. Farrugia), Z. Levnaic-6, M. Mazzetti-7, A. Effiong-7 (76 P. Viggiani), F. Temile-7.
Mosta
M. Bernal-5.5, T. Farrugia-5, M. Micallef-5, R. Ekani-5, A. Borg-6, D. Falzon-5 (41 K. Zammit-5), R. Grech-5, K. Magro-5, D. Bueno-5, Pedrinho-4, N. Milovanovic-5 (54 F. Paim-4).
Referee: Fyodor Zammit.
Yellow cards: Vella, Temile.
BOV player of the match: Alfred Effiong (Qormi).