Gżira United ease past Mosta

GŻIRA UNITED 2

Minala 22, Alves 61

MOSTA 0

GŻIRA UNITED

D. Zarkov, J. Minala, F. Zuniga, Thaylor, Z. Scerri (80 A. Borg), M. Dias, F. Hassany (56 K. Tullimieri), L. Riascos, J. Pisani, A. Alves (87 M. De Filippis), T. Espindola.

MOSTA

D. Akpan, T. Shedrack (46 L. Fernandes), R. da Silva Sousa (78 J. Ayi), G. Goncalves, C. Failla, J. Agyemang, M. Pires, J.V. Teixeira, J. Vassallo, Z. Brincat (78 S. Cipriott), C. Machado (78 S. Chiemeze).

Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann

Yellow card: Fernandes,

Two goals either side of half-time from newcomers Joseph Minala and Alex Alves handed Gżira United an easy victory over struggling Mosta.

The Cameroon player scored his first goal with the Maroons after sliding in to recover the ball and poke home. Then, Alves kept his calm to outsmart his marker and place the ball behind David Akpan.

The Maroons, who notched their second win in three matches, spurned several chances, with Minala impressing after a good performance at the heart of the midfield.

Life in the Premier League has not been easy for Mosta again this season as they suffered a third consecutive defeat from as many matches.

Gżira United coach Andrew Cohen was forced into a last-minute change as Enrico Pepe pulled up during the warm-up. His void was taken by Farid Romero Zuniga.

The Maroons were in control right from the start. On 19 minutes, Joao Teixeira flung himself to block Alves’s shot and, when Zachary Scerri gathered the rebound, his shot was deflected into a corner.

Four minutes later, Minala struck a good shot, only for some more desperate Mosta defending to come to their rescue.Yet the Cameroon player collected again the ball and hit a low shot behind David Akpan.

Mosta coach Mario Muscat wasn’t entirely happy with his team’s performance and kept barking instructions at his players as he sought to direct their play.

On the other side, Gżira looked dangerous whenever they held on to possession and Scerri was put clear by Thaylor, only for the alert Akpan to again rescue his side.

But when Mosta did threaten close to half-time, with Joshua Agyemany, his effort was too weak to trouble Darijan Zarkov.

Yet, after the break, Mosta continued to endure some tense moments in their goalmouth as Gżira kept dominating following the interval with substitute Kevin Tulimieri dragging a shot wide in a promising opening on the hour mark.

That attack should have served as a warning to Mosta as the Maroons started to get their free-flowing passing game into gear again.

On 61 minutes, in a well-engineered move on the left, led to Alves being played in on the Mosta goal, he outsprinted Leonardo Fernandes before unleashing a rising shot behind Akpan.

The international break couldn’t come sooner for Mosta after such a performance.