SLIEMA WANDERERS 1 MOSTA 1
A last-gasp equaliser by Matias Muchardi strengthened Sliema Wanderers' hold on fourth place in the standings, six points ahead of Naxxar Lions and Mosta, as Alfredo Alfonso’s men maintained their push for a place in the Championship Pool.
Yet this second consecutive draw is simply a reflection on a season of ups and downs.
The industrious Mosta, under the helm of new mentor Enrico Piccioni, had given as much as they got but Muchardi struck late to deny the Italian coach a winning debut.
Mosta's new mentor Enrico Piccioni made a raft of changes in a bid to reinvigorate his side as Armando and Yuria Messias were left out of the Blues squad with Bojan Kaljevic and Lukas Duriska taking their place. New recruit Dyson Falzon and Kurt Zmmit were preferred to Mark Brincat and Ryan Grech.
Midfielder Mark Scerri recovered from an injury problem to take his usual position in central midfield. Matias Muchardi provided the only change in Sliema’s initial 11 that took the field for the previous match against Tarxien.
Signalling their attacking intent from the outset, Mosta took just four minutes to open the scoring. Gianmarco Piccioni drifted into the box from the left. His initial cross was blocked but John Mintoff stumbled with the ball rolling kindly to Manolito Micallef who hammered past Henry Bonello.
Mosta’s early breakthrough shook Sliema who had to wait until the 11th minute to fashion a ghost of a chance. Muchardi’s close-range hit the side-netting.
After 35 minutes, Alex Muscat, latched on to a corner by Trevor Cilia but the defender’s grounder hit the foot of the post after 35 minutes.
A minute before half-time, Mintoff and Muchardi combined to produce a good move that had the Mosta rearguard on the back foot. The defender advanced through the middle before releasing the Argentine midfielder. The Sliema midfielder assessed his options before shooting straight at Omar Borg’s hands.
Alfredo Greco moved to address his team’s attacking inefficiencies as he threw on Abubaker Bello-Osagie for Ivan Woods. They started promisingly, the Nigerian striker, evidently determined to prove his worth, heading wide from another Cilia’s corner on 57 minutes.
In the 78th minute, danger loomed for Mosta when Muchiardi latching on to a through-pass from midfield, sprinted past Kane Farrugia only to be hauled down by the former Sliema defender. The eyes of those inside the Centenary Stadium turned on Tristan Farrugia Cann as Sliema demanded a red card for Farrugia but the referee booked the Mosta centre-half. From the ensuing free-kick, Bello-Osagie shot over the bar.
But Sliema were deservedly level when Bello-Osagie lofted a pass towards the Mosta for Muchardi, who shook off the attention of a defender before slotting the ball behind Borg with a low drive in the 87th minute.