Mosta 0 Sliema Wds 2
Sliema’s victory over Mosta somewhat alleviated the disappointment of missing out on the fourth round of the U*BET FA Trophy as they tightened their grip on the fifth place and the prospect of championship pool football.
On the other hand, Mosta’ season lurched from disappointing to disastrous. Out of the contention for the FA Trophy, Stevce D’Amato side were banking on a good run in the premier league to show for their summer spending spree.
Yet again, for the umpteenth time this season, Mosta failed to deliver the kind of stirring performance expected of a team boasting some of the country's most gifted players.
This result places pressure on Coach Steve D’Amato who knows that Mosta’ success this season could rely on a championship pool place and nothing was on display at the Victor Tedesco Stadium yesterday to suggest that is a viable option.
On the quarter of the hour stroke, Sliema supporters could have been celebrating one the cheekiest goals had not Alex Muscat’s shot from the halfway line, found Justin Haber, the Mosta goalkeeper up to the task.
Haber had to be at his best again after 26 minutes to push away Stefano Bianciardi’s header from Barbetti’s free-kick.
Sliema did not have to wait long, although there was an element of lax defending from the Mosta defence in the way, the Wanderers broke the deadlock on 39 minutes. Luigi Ruggiero’s quick feet on the box released Ariel Laudisi in the box who dabbed the ball past an advancing Haber.
As the minutes trickled by, D’Amato threw caution to the wind by reverting to a three-man defence and pushing more men upfield with the introduction of Ousseni Zongo Having forced to make two substitutions in the first half an hour – Glenn Zammit replacing Henry Bonello who limped out of the game with what looked a serious ankle injury, and Andrew Decesare taking the place of Alex Muscat, Greco made his third change in the 65th minute with Josef Mifsud coming on for Mark Scerri, switching to a five-men defence.
By now the Wanderers were on the back foot and, with Mosta enjoying the late pressure.
In the 70th minute, Zongo latched onto a cross-field pass by Grech to set up Bogdanovic who shot marginally wide.
Five minutes later, Bajada chipped the ball towards the centre of the area and Obiefule complemented the move with an acrobatic scissor kick that just failed to beat Zammit.
After 78 minutes, Danail Mitev’s thunderous free-kick finished just wide.
But two minutes later, Barbetti flicked the ball into the middle from a free-kick on the right flank and Josef Mifsud despite a heavily-bandaged head produced a stunning volley on target from the edge of the box. His shot floated into the top corner – a truly remarkable finish for a defender!