Vittoriosa goalkeeper Jean-Matthias Vella punches the ball away against Mosta. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Mosta 2
Fernandez 77; Kaljevic 87 pen;
Vittoriosa Stars 0

Two goals late in the second half earned Mosta their first victory in this season’s BOV Premier League as the Blues proved too strong for newly-promoted Vittoriosa Stars yesterday.

It was an encouraging perfor-mance from Danilo Doncic’s men who could have easily settled the issue much earlier had they taken the countless chances they created throughout the match.

On the other hand, the Stars were a shadow of the side that had performed so well in last week’s 2-2 draw against Balzan as Oliver Spiteri’s team struggled to get themselves going yesterday.

Doncic yesterday included new signing Ricardinho.

The Brazilian midfielder completed his move to the Blues on Friday after putting pen to paper on a one-year deal.

Ricardinho was one of three new faces drafted in the Mosta team yesterday alongside Cameroon winger Jonas Rodriguez Ekani and Brazilian Diego Pereira. Liberian winger Joel Sunny Boy Toe was ruled out with a one-match ban.

The Stars were forced to do without injured duo Sheldon Grech and Roberto Brincat. Spiteri handed a start to goalkeeper Jean-Matthias Vella ahead of Sean Cini who was forced to settle with a place on the bench.

Mosta took the ground running and after four minutes Pereira’s shot hit the foot of the post and from the rebound Ekani drove the ball wide.

Vittoriosa’s response arrived three minutes later when Marcio Teruel drifted a cross inside the area and Ramon’s shot was deflected just wide.

The woodwork denied Pereira again on 11 minutes following some good work from Ricardinho.

Four minutes later, Ricardinho was again the provider from a free-kick when he picked up Lukas Duriska who saw his header finish just wide.

Vella came to the Stars’ rescue midway through the half when he somehow kept out Pereira’s shot after another good delivery from Ricardinho.

Three minutes from the break, Vittoriosa were denied what looked like a clear penalty when Kane Farrugia hit the ball with his arm in an attempt to block Teruel’s cross but referee Mario Apap waved play on.

Five minutes into the second half Mosta hit the woodwork a third time. This time it was Ricardinho who showed great ability to hit a fierce volley from outside the area with the ball coming off the post.

On 58 minutes, Spiteri withdrew Adam Spiteri and roped in Filipe Aguiar and the new entrant almost left an instant impact when his long-range shot forced a fine save from Mosta goalkeeper Omar Borg.

The Stars kept pushing forward and on 63 minutes substitute Samir Arab unleashed a powerful drive that came off the bar.

Mosta threatened again on 76 minutes when Pereira headed into the side-netting following a Cristian Martins Fernandez corner.

But Mosta finally found the breakthrough a minute later.

In a quick break, Fernandez beat the Vittoriosa offside trap to squeeze the ball past the onrushing Vella from close in.

Vittoriosa now pushed forward in search of an equaliser but it was Mosta who sealed the points.

The clock marked 86 minutes when Clive Spiteri floored Fernandez inside the area with the referee immediately pointing to the spot. From the resultant penalty Bojan Kaljevic beat Vella to the delight of the Blues fans.

Mosta
O. Borg 5.5, M. Micallef-6, T. Farrugia-5.5, K. Farrugia-5.5, A. Cini-5.5, R. Grech-5, L. Duriska-7, Ricardinho-7 (89 B. Agius), B. Kaljevic 6.5, J. Ekani 5 (66 C. Fernandez), D. Pereira-7 (82 J. Brincat).

Vittoriosa
J.M. Vella-6, M. Buttigieg-6, L. Vella Critien 5.5 (38 C. Spiteri-5.5), A. Spiteri 5 (58 F. Aguiar-6.5), M. Teruel 6, L. Dos Santos-5.5, M. Pereira-5, G. Martin-5 (65 Siraj Arab-5), M. Camilleri-5, O. Guerrero-5.5, Samir Arab-5.5.

Referee: Mario Apap.

Yellow cards: Duriska, Spiteri.

BOV Player of the match: Diego Pereira (Mosta).

Standings