MOSTA 0
FLORIANA 2
Reid 56
Sasere 90 pen.
MOSTA
D. Akpan, P. Afriyie, S. Cachia, L. Coulibaly (80 Matheus), Luca, C. Failla (87 A. Agius), N. Agius (68 S. Cipriott), J. Agyemang (69 S. Kone), S. Okereke (69 G. Goncalves), J. Vitor, L. Joaquim.
Floriana
C. Mafoumbi, J. Grech, K. Reid (87 M. Veselji), Thiaguinho (46 Emerson), D. Vella, O. Spiteri, M. Garcia, C. Zammit Lonardelli (9 G. Yameogo), F. Sasere, A. Kouro (70 O. El Hasni), F. Araujo.
Referee: Fyodor Zammit.
Yellow cards Yameogo, Reid, Grech, Mafoumbi, Afriyie.
Floriana bagged another three important points when they battled past Mosta at the Tony Bezzina Stadium.
The match turned out to be a tight encounter which saw Mosta hold a slight edge for much of the opening hour of the match. However, a loss in concentration in a free-kick action turned out to be fatal for Mosta as Kemar Reid showed all his predatory skills to head home the opener before Franklin Sasere converted a penalty at the death to earn his team a crucial victory that keeps them just behind the Premier League front-runners.
On the other hand, Mosta will be disappointed to return home with nothing to show but were again found wanting when failing to capitalise on their long spells of possession as they lacked the necessary attacking guile.
The match was controlled by referee Fyodor Zammit who was officiating his 200th match in the Maltese top-flight.
Floriana suffered a blow as after five minutes they lost Carlo Zammit Lonardelli who pulled out with a muscle injury and was replaced by Guy Ameogo.
The Greens had the first shot on target on 19 minutes but Udo Akpan found little difficulty to block Matias Garcia’s shot from the edge of the area.
Mosta responded four minutes later when Agyemang released Sunday Okereke inside the area, but the Nigerian was denie by goalkeeper Christoffer Mafoumbi.
Eleven minutes from the break, Kemar Reid tried his luck from a free-kick but his effort was easily dealt with by Akpan.
Mosta continued to create the better chances and Maffoumbi had to be alert to punch away Leo Fernandez’s shot.
After the break, Darren Abdilla, the Floriana coach, roped in Emerson for Thiaguinho as he looked to add more muscle in midfield.
Floriana took the lead on 56 minutes when Reid profited from a verbal spat between two Mosta players when defending a free-kick that left him unmarked inside the area and the Malta forward headed home.
Nine minutes later, Reid had another huge opportunity to kill off the match when he was again found unmarked inside the area but this time he blasted the ball over the bar.
Mosta, despite their changes, were very little effective upfront with Floriana looking very comfortable to administer their slim advantage.
Reid missed another glorious chance seven minutes from time when he incredibly deflected the ball over the bar in front of a gaping goal after fine transition by Jake Grech.
Floriana did grab a second time added on when Jake Grech was floored inside the area by Joao Vitor and from the spot Franklin Sasere made no mistake.
