Mqabba 0
Qormi 1
Qormi dealt 10-man Mqabba a severe blow yesterday evening sending them close to demotion. A Jorge Pereira free kick 17 minutes from the end was enough for the Yellow Blacks to win this tough clash against the relegation threatened side.
After this defeat, Mqabba remain three points behind Tarxien and Mosta with the former having today’s match in hand.
The first half was balanced with Qormi, perhaps, being more enterprising and more dangerous in their attacks.
Jorge Pereira constituted himself as a very dangerous striker, even if on most occasions, his efforts were off the target.
Aware of their plight, Mqabba gave their hearts out and managed to share the exchanges. But they found it somewhat difficult to get past the Qormi rearguard where Kouadio was in command, never missing a ball.
In the second half, the match followed the same pattern until Qormi started enjoying numerical superiority following goalie Calleja’s dismissal for committing a penalty.
It was Mqabba who had the first attempt at goal on 16 minutes when Claudio Calleja’s effort was turned to corner by Farrugia. Immediately afterwards, at the other end, Mqabba’s Calleja had to dive sideways to palm out a fine effort from Pereira.
Pereira then dummied his way past a bewildered Mqabba defence only to see his grounder being saved by Calleja.
Pereira was again in action on the 31st minute. Set by Bartolo from midfield, he had the better of a tackle by Timotic, but lifted his effort well over the bar.
The scoresheet was still blank at the first half’s final whistle.
In the 61st minute, Pereira had a good effort going just wide, but a minute later, Qormi were awarded a penalty when Pereira was floored in the area by goalkeeper Calleja who was also red carded by Mr Borg, leaving his side with just 10 men. Pereira took the kick but skied the ball to the delight of the Mqabba fans.
A few minutes later, Mqabba almost shocked their opponents when from a low cross by Fenech, Mamic just failed to connect as a Qormi defender sent the ball to corner in extremis.
Pereira redeemed himself from his earlier lapse in the 73rd minute scoring direct from a freekick.
Substitute Duca was just inches close to an equaliser on 76 minutes and despite their attempts till the end, Mqabba never came really close to scoring.
The match had a dramatic ending. A foul on Pereira in midfield created chaos on and off the field of play. While order was restored quickly on the pitch, in the skirmish that ensued on the terraces, a Mqabba fan was seen being led away by two police officers.
Mqabba: K. Calleja, P. Grima, M. Potezika, J. Briffa (R. Duca), B. Timotic, T. Mazzitelli, C. Calleja (F. Azzopardi), M. Bonnici, D. Fenech, R. Sammut, B. Mamic.
Coach: C. Mizzi.
Qormi: M. Farrugia, R. Sammut, M. Bartolo, J. Chetcuti, J. Farrugia, J. Bondin, J. Da Silva Pereira (L. Sciberras), K. Thackray, T. Caruana, A. Bello Osagie, V. Kouadio.
Coach: S. Azzopardi.
Referee: M. Borg.
Asst refs: P. Apap, C. Francalanza.
4th official: F. Zammit.
Scorers: J. Da Silva Pereira.
Yellow cards: J. Briffa, F. Azzopardi,
Red card: Kris Calleja,
Player of the match: J. Pereira(Qormi)
TMI Top 3: 1. J. Pereira, 2. V. Kouadio, 3. T. Mazzitelli.