Mosta 1 Tarxien 0
Bojan Kaljevic’s solitary goal was enough for Mosta to see off Tarxien’s challenge. Tarxien had the better of the early exchanges as Lucas was proving quite a handful for Mosta, swtiching from one side of the pitch to the other in search of opening.
Yet, Mosta threatened to surge ahead when Kalejevic latching onto a crossfield pass from Piccioni volleyed the ball onto the bar after just seven minutes.
At the other end, Mamo floated the ball towards goal where Tourè rose above friend and foe but his header rococheted off the crossbar.
In the 21st minute, an excellent move involving Lucas, Bueno and Jorge unlocked the Mosta defence when Jorge sprinting into the box from the blind side, swung in a teasing cross but Mark Brincat made a vital block to clear the danger.
Two minutes later, Ian Zammit powered his way through before hitting a rising shot that finished just wide. But it was Tarxien who continued to call the tune. Just past the half hour mark, Jorge’s curling free-kick caressed the crossbar.
Seven minutes before the break, Ekani was the provider with an excellent cross from the left towards the centre of the box where the unmarked Kaljevic forced Nicholas Vella into a fine save to parry his grounder.
Mosta went on the offensive from the outset of the second half, Piccioni having an effort diverted for a corner. From the ensuing kick, the Italian striker rose high to meet Ian Zammit’s cross but his header sailed over. After 50 minutes, Kaljevic evaded the offside trap to reach Rodriguez Ekani’s intelligent pass but the striker’s shot from point blank was parried away by Vella.
As Piccioni sensed the possibility of taking full-points out of this match, he introduced Pereira for Armando and switched to a four-pronged attack.The erstwhile disjointed Mosat began to find their rhythm as the game moved past the hour mark. Their sudden improvement reaped instant dividends as, on 63 minutes, Ian Zammit seized possession near the half-way line and released Kalejvic who ran behind the defence to slot an angled drive behind Vella.
That was Kalejvic’s last contribution as he was withdrawn by Piccioni three minutes later but the Montenegrin striker had done enough to give the Blues a solid platform with another clinical finish.