First and second placed Valletta and Hibernians remained on the winning track at the weekend. Valletta beat rivals Birkirkara with relative ease while Hibernians had to fight hard to win all the three points against Mosta. After Birkirkara’s defeat, Sliema’s draw against Hamrun, Balzan’s draw against Floriana and Qormi’s win against Mqabba, the battle for the remaining three berths in the forthcoming Championship Pool has intensified with two more matches to go. Only three points separate the four clubs.
Henry Brincat takes a close look at what happened during the past weekend.
Valletta confirmed their huge potential on Sunday as they beat Birkirkara with relative ease in the match between the two rivals.
The lean season being experienced by Birkirkara was quite in evidence in this match as they were overpowered by Valletta’s best performance so far this season.
The Stripes’ monotonous season has continued, even after having played so well in their previous match when they crushed Balzan 4-0.
On Sunday, they were just a shadow of that team which a week earlier, had played its best match since Paul Zammit took over.
Those two early goals put Valletta on velvet. Committing such mistakes at the back was fatal for the Stripes, especially against a side like Valletta which has all the ingredients of a top side locally.
Valletta quickly took control and even after Denni’s early goal, it was always an uphill battle for the Stripes who rarely troubled the Valletta rearguard despite some attempts late in the first half and also in the second half.
Considering that Valletta were again playing under pressure following Hibs’ victory the day before, then City’s win grows in significance. In fact, it is to Jesmond Zerafa’s credit that the side continues to emerge victorious even in difficult moments.
Valletta do not only have the best team, and are the most consistent, but they also have the strongest squad among the Premier clubs.
Hibernians registered a hard-earned win against the gallant Mosta side on Saturday thus also moving close to Valletta – one point adrift – though temporarily, till Sunday, when the citizens reopened the four point gap.
The Paolites had to fight harder than expected to beat Mosta who again showed and confirmed that they are a team hard to beat at present.
The Paolites were, of course, the side which enjoyed more possession, especially in the first half, but Mosta never gave away an inch.
In fact, in the second half, Mark Miller’s men were in difficulty at times in trying to keep their opponents at bay and it had to be their experience more than anything else, which saved the result and the day for them.
Mosta remain on 20 points and although this result practically seals their place in the Relegation Pool, they are however, no longer among the favourites for the Drop.
They have gained enough points to see them starting the Relegation battle ahead of at least four other clubs, although they still have to work a lot to avoid the Drop.
But on such form, they should feel more than confident of keeping their place among the elite.
Qormi made sure of remaining in contention for a Top Six berth as they brushed aside Mqabba’s challenge on Friday evening to win comfortably 4-1.
It was a return to victory for the Yellow Blacks as they finally produced a more than decent performance, inspired by Brazilian striker Jorge Pereira – returning from a two match suspension - who paved the way for their win with the first goal after just eight minutes and then scoring another for good measure.
This victory has enabled Qormi to move closer to Balzan who occupy the sixth position at present. But with two more matches still to go, anything may still happen and it is obvious that Balzan have a more difficult programme than Qormi.
For Mqabba it was a return to defeat after having collected a precious win the previous week against Hamrun.
They simply failed to live up to expectations and were a far cry from the team that managed to defeat Hamrun so emphatically the previous weekend.
Also on Friday evening, Stefan Sultana made his debut in the Premier League as a coach, as he led his first love Hamrun to a 1-1 draw against Sliema W.
For Sultana, this must be considered as a satisfactory start as he takes on the challenge to save the club from relegation.
The team had a good start as they took the lead through that fine Massimo Grima freekick, but eventually, they had to bow down and concede the equaliser to the more methodical Sliema.
The Blues disappointed once again, especially in the first half. This was the third draw in succession after their victory in extremis against Birkirkara last month.
Danilo Doncic, the Sliema mentor, was missing a number of players through injury and suspension, but the Blues’ main problem, in my opinion, lies in the attack which, with the departure of Mifsud Triganza and Jorge Santos Silva and Jackson Lima, is finding it harder than before to penetrate opposing defences. Argentine striker Emiliano Lattes, recruited in January, still has to make an impact.
With just two matches to be played, they have not yet ascertained themselves of their place in the Top Six. One club from the Wanderers, Birkirkara, Balzan Youths and Qormi will have to end up in the Relegation Pool in the second phase.
On Saturday, Balzan earned a precious and unexpected point when they came back from 2-0 down against Floriana to draw 2-2 with two goals from Miguel Ciantar in the final minutes.
The Youths produced another encouraging performance and I felt that they did not deserve to leave the pitch empty handed, even if their defence left a lot to be desired on some occasions, especially on the occasion of Floriana’s second goal.
The Youths are still well placed to finish among the Top Six. Ivan Zammit’s men seem to be determined to avoid playing in the Relegation Pool come the second phase.
Floriana missed two more points in their championship title challenge and they are seeing the gap with the leading duo bring widened every week. In the last two matches, Floriana lost five points after a defeat and a draw.
They seemed to be coasting towards victory when leading by two goals with six minutes to go, but near the end, they did not know what had hit them as Balzan fought back to level matters.
In the bottom of the table clash, Marsaxlokk managed to obtain their first points in eight matches, drawing 2-2 with Tarxien Rainbows after having gone through seven consecutive defeats.
The southern seasiders seemed to be on the way to their eighth consecutive defeat as Tarxien appeared heading for a valuable three points, leading 2-0 at the interval.
They were the better team in the first 45 minutes and could have also scored more goals.
But Marsaxlokk fought back in the second half to take a merited point. However, it did little to appease their problems, remaining firmly rooted to the bottom of the standings.
As for Tarxien, the point only enabled them to join Hamrun Spartans on 16 points as they remain four points ahead of Marsaxlokk in the table.
Battle for Top Six berths
The following is the remaining programme (two matches) of each of the four clubs involved in the battle for three Top Six berths in the second phase (in brackets the points at present):
Sliema W.: v. Qormi, Mosta
Birkirkara: v. Tarxien R., Hamrun S.
Balzan Y.: v. Valletta, Tarxien R.
Qormi FC: v. Sliema W., Marsaxlokk
Best player
Andrew Cohen (Hibernians)
The Hibs midfielder/striker is my pick this week after his excellent performance in the narrow and hard-earned 2-1 win against Mosta on Saturday.
It was a day on which Cohen not only was the inspiration for Hibernians and enabled them to win the three points, but he also confirmed his return to his best form.
He also paved the way for his club’s win with that magnificent headed goal which must rank as one of the best this season overall.
Top scorers
18 - Edison Luis dos Santos (Hibs)
16 – Obinna Obiefule (Mosta)
11 - Clayton Failla (Hibernians)
10 - Moises Avila Perez (Birkirkara), Jorge Pereira (Qormi),
9 - Joseph Farrugia (Qormi), Alfred Effiong (Valletta), D. Rocha dos Santos (Valletta),
8 - Danial Mitev (Sliema), Bojan Mamic (Mqabba)
7 - Thiago Mazzitelli (Mqabba), William Barbosa (Valletta), Michael Mifsud (Valletta), Miguel Ciantar (Balzan)