Mosta pile more woes on Birkirkara
Floriana’s perfect start to the Premier League season came to an end on Saturday when the Greens were surprisingly held by newly-promoted side Naxxar Lions at the Tony Bezzina Stadium.
Another upset was recorded at the National Stadium as Birkirkara were stunned by Mosta as the Blues cruised to an impressive 2-0 victory.
Floriana, under the charge of Mauro Camoranesi, will surely have fancied their chances of making it five wins in a row against the Lions, particularly after securing victories over Balzan, Hibernians and Birkirkara in their opening outings.
Things looked rosy for the Greens when they managed to take the lead on 34 minutes.
Adam Magri Overend sped clear on the right flank and hit a dangerous low cross that was somehow cleared away by the Lions’ defence.
However, the ball fell into the path of Dunstan Vella who rammed the ball home for his first goal for the Greens since his summer transfer.
Floriana’s joy was shortlived though, as a minute later Naxxar were level.
Takuma Yamaguchi hit a tricky lob from the left channel that completely suprised Floriana goalkeeper Georgi Kitanov with the ball finishing into the back of the net.
Floriana tried to hit back but lacked their usual fluency upfront with Naxxar posing a threat with the speed of their forwards with Edson Farias coming close late on only to be denied by Kitanov.
At the National Stadium, Birkirkara were desperate for the three points in a bid to close the gap on the Premier League leaders.
But Mosta had other ideas as they scored their first win of the season so far when securing a 2-0 victory.
In fact, the Blues were off to a strong start as they took just nine minutes to take the lead when Zachary Brincat hit the ball past Birkirkara goalkeeper Marcel Zapytowski.
Birkirkara tried to fight back but despite enjoying long spells of possession and creating a number of chances they were denied time and again by Mosta’s in-form goalkeeper David Akpan.
Things got worse for Birkirkara in the second half as Eric Mensah, who replaced Precious Tenebe, doubled Mosta’s lead when he did well to conclude a quick counterattack to double his team’s lead.
That was a real killer blow for the Stripes who despite their best efforts looked short of ideas as they crashed to another painful defeat.
BIRKIRKARA 0
MOSTA 2
Brincat 9; Mensah 71
BIRKIRKARA
M. Zapytowski, J. Pajovic, E. Pepe, S. Zammit, K. Zammit, P. Mbong, A. Diakite (46 A. Ciolacu), Y. Yankam (79 M. De Filippis), E. Pena Beltre (83 O. Elouni), M. Maia (66 M. Durisic), A. Satariano (79 K. Fenech).
MOSTA
U. Akpan, J. Vassallo, E. Aneni (90 W. Legault), G. Chara, W. Britto, N. Agius (S. Cachia), Z. Brincat (90 N. Chukwudi), C. Failla, C. Nnaji, P. Tenebe (52 E. Mensah), K. Tulimieri (63 A. Isah).
Referee: Fyodor Zammit.
Yellow cards: Zammit, Chara, Aneni, Britto, Fenech.
FLORIANA 1
Vella 33
NAXXAR LIONS 1
Yamaguchi 35
FLORIANA
G. Kitanov, A. Magri Overend (62 M. Veselji), O. El Hasni, U. Arias (82 L. De Grazia), K. Reid, M. Souza, D. Vella, M. Garcia (72 K. Nwoko), C. Zammit Lonardelli (46 E. Micallef), M. Valadzko, A. Kouro.
NAXXAR
M. Debono, N. Micallef, N. Pace Cocks (72 D. Falzon), P. De Carvalho, E. Cerqueira (89 J. Ellul), R. Cassar, T. Yamaguchi, Elizeu (81 M. Fenech), M. Moreira, M. de Souza, J. Moura.
Referee: D. Agius.
Yellow cards: Carvalho, Garcia, Yamaguchi, Zammit Lonardelli, Elizeu, El Hasni, Kouro, Kitanov, Falzon.
BOV Player of the Match: Dunstan Vella (Floriana).
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