Mosta 1
Rabat Ajax 0
A stoppage time goal from Gianluca Calabretta put Mosta back on track in the race for promotion after they edged past relegation strugglers Rabat Ajax at the Tedesco Stadium last night.
The win has lifted Mosta to second place in the standings, two points behind joint leaders Pietà Hotspurs and Dingli Swallows. Rabat, on their part, remain second from bottom and still with a lot of work to do to avoid the drop.
Mosta looked the more aggressive side during the first half even though Rabat enjoyed most of the possession with the Albanian Vilson Caushi and Adam Smeir conducting the show for Charles Borg's side while Calabretta and Elton Vella shining for Michael Molzahn's side.
Chances were few and far between in the opening 45 minutes with Rabat coming close with a Smeir long-range shot that finished wide while at the other end Calabretta's shot just missed the upright.
On resumption the game became more lively and on 46 minutes Steve Borg shot wide from 10 metres. Four minutes later a Caushi long-range effort just missed the target.
But the best chance came on the hour when Calabretta was put through on goal by Ryan Deguara but the Mosta forward was denied by a goal-line clearance from Rabat defender Chris Schembri.
Three minutes from time Rabat missed a great opportunity through Caushi when he hit wide from just inside the area.
The Magpies paid dearly for this miss as in time added on Mosta were awarded a free-kick. Bryan Agius's in-swinger was partially cleared by the Rabat defence with the ball falling kindly to Calabretta who unleashed a powerful volley that flew into the net to the delight of the Mosta clan.
Mosta: J. Debono; M. Abela, A. Borg, S. Borg (G. Camilleri), G. Calabretta, C. Camenzuli (L. Micallef), R. Deguara, M. Farrugia, B. Agius, E. Vella, A. Saliba.
Rabat: J. Borg; J. Bezzina, J. Tonna, J. Caruana, V. Caushi, A. Smeir, M. Micallef, C. Schembri, G. Magri (D. Galea), E. Muscat (D. Falzon), E. Azzopardi.
Referee: Paul Caruana.
Man of the Match: Gianluca Calabretta (Mosta).