Vittoriosa Stars 3
Guerrero 22; Sammut 62; Pereira 80;
Rabat Ajax 1
Bajada 53;
Winless after their first two Relegation Pool matches, Vittoriosa Stars knew that anything less than victory from their clash with basement side Rabat Ajax would jeopardise their chances of avoiding the drop.
Languishing at the foot of the standings with a meagre four points, Rabat already look doomed but this was perhaps their last chance to revive their hopes.
There was to be no respite for Rabat as it was Vittoriosa who picked up three priceless points to climb out of the red zone, one point ahead of Tarxien and two clear of Qormi who have a game in hand.
The clash was a typical relegation scrap with Vittoriosa showing the better ideas but looking somewhat uneasy at the back. Rabat were even less convincing in defence with their bulky centre-halves struggling all match to stifle the rapid movement of the likes of Oscar Guerrero, Marcelo Pereira and Gilbert Martin.
Vittoriosa’s attacking triumvirate were instrumental in their team’s victory with Guerrero scoring the first and Pereira the third but the most telling contribution came from an unlikely source.
Having recently completed a two-year ban for doping, Carl Sammut yesterday began to repay Vittoriosa’s faith after coming off the bench to put his team ahead, nine minutes after Rabat had levelled matters.
Sammut was mobbed by team-mates and embraced by team officials as he ran towards the bench to hug coach Oliver Spiteri.
The Vittoriosa coach rang the changes after the 3-1 defeat to Floriana with Portuguese midfielder Jose Filipe Aguiar, Samir Arab, Ryan Mifsud and Malcolm Buttigieg handed a first-team recall.
Colombian forward Guerrero partnered Brazilian Pereira in attack with Martin floating behind.
A boost for Rabat was the return of Spanish winger Diego Carrillo Pendas who had been restricted to a 45-minute appearance in the 3-0 reverse to Qormi.
Dylan Falzon and Jonathan Bajada were also back for Rabat who had Carrillo Pendas, Bajada and Malcolm Licari pushing behind Ryan Micallef in a 4-2-3-1 approach.
The Magpies fashioned the first noteworthy chance after four minutes. Carrillo Pendas stormed clear on the left before delivering a perfect cross to Micallef whose low effort was too central to unsettle Mario Muscat in the Vittoriosa goal.
Carrillo Pendas remained Rabat’s creative outlet. On 10 minutes, the Spaniard drifted infield from the left but his swerving cross-cum-shot sailed wide of the far post.
Moments later, D’Amato was forced into his first substitution as David Azzopardi was unable to continue after pulling his hamstring. He was replaced by Patrick Borg with Falzon taking over at left-back.
Vittoriosa should have opened the scoring on 14 minutes when Martin’s cross from the right was headed on by Pereira towards Leonardo Torri but the Italian’s first touch was heavy and his ensuing effort was blocked by Pavle Velimirovic, the Rabat goalkeeper.
Velimirovic produced an even better save on 19 minutes as he pawed away a menacing Aguiar drive from the distance.
The game remained finely-poised with both teams committed to attack.
It was Vittoriosa who seized the lead on 22 minutes. Their South American players inflicted the damage on Rabat as Pereira made headway on the right before supplying a perfect pass to Guerrero who flicked the ball past Velimirovic.
Martin threatened to double Vittoriosa’s lead but his angled shot was off target.
Vittoriosa were now producing the brighter stuff.
A minute short of the half-hour, Aguiar was close with another long-range drive that grazed the upright.
At the other end, the woodwork came to Vittoriosa’s rescue as Carrillo Pendas’s superb free-kick cannoned off the far post.
Overrun in midfield, Rabat often resorted to long balls to bring their forward personnel into play. This was in ample evidence on 38 minutes when Ivan Carapic’s clearance from the back turned into a perfect assist for Carrillo Pendas who pulled clear of the Vittoriosa defenders but his cross found no takers.
Three minutes from half-time, Rabat were saved by two last-ditch interventions from Shaun Gauci and Carapic who blocked dangerous shots by Guerrero and Martin.
Vittoriosa had more ammunition in attack. Pereira ran clear on the left before passing to Guerrero who fired against the side-netting after his run into the box had caused a goalmouth melee.
The second half was three minutes old when Rabat threatened to equalise.
Micallef dribbled his way into the box before teeing up Licari who managed to flick the ball past a defender but Muscat was alert to the danger.
Rabat were back on level terms eight minutes into the second half.
Carrillo Pendas’s cross from the left was partially cleared by the Vittoriosa defenders, the ball falling to Bajada who hit a crisp half-volley that flashed into the top corner.
Vittoriosa stirred. Martin blasted high after Guerrero’s cross was deflected into his path.
Spiteri brought on Sammut for Torri. It proved an inspired substitution as, three minutes after his introduction, Sammut made a perfectly-timed run into the box to meet Guerrero’s pass with a first-time drive that rolled past Velimirovic.
Midway into the second half, Rabat nearly made it 2-2 but Borg headed fractionally wide from Carrillo Pendas’s corner.
A keenly-contested match continued to throw up regular scoring chances.
With 16 minutes remaining, Guerrero sped infield from the right before passing to Pereira whose tame effort was blocked by Gauci.
Vittoriosa put the result beyond Rabat 10 minutes from time.
Exploiting Rabat’s defensive flaws, Guerrero had all the time and space he needed to drag the ball back to Martin who in turn passed to Pereira with the Brazilian stroking the ball into the net.
Substitute Federico Santaguida was wide with a diagonal shot as Vittoriosa cruised through the remaining minutes.
Vittoriosa Stars
M. Muscat-6, O. Sidibe-6, L. Torri-6 (59 C. Sammut-6.5), J.F. Aguiar-7, G. Martin-6.5, O. Guerrero-7, S. Arab-5.5, M. Pereira-7 (82 F. Santaguida), R. Mifsud-6 (67 C. Spiteri-5.5), M. Buttigieg-6, M. Camilleri-6.5.
Rabat Ajax
P. Velimirovic-6.5, S. Gauci-6.5, D. Azzopardi (12 P. Borg-6), D. Falzon-5, I. Carapic-6, J. Caruana-5, J. Bajada-6 (88 A. Azzopardi), S. Oproiescu-5, R. Micallef-6, M. Licari-6 (77 W. Borg), D. Carrillo Pendas-7.
Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.
Yellow cards: Torri; Borg; Guerrero; Buttigieg.
BOV player of the match: Oscar Guerrero (Vittoriosa Stars).