Mosta   0

Valletta                5

Mosta: J. Farrugia, F. Apap, T. Farrugia (K. Zammit), O. Chiemeka, R. Grech, J. Bajada, K. Magro, M. Micallef, D. Mitev (U. Okoro), C. Campagnoli (B. Mbonu), F. Vignaroli

Valletta: M. Bartolo, R. Briffa, J. Caruana, I. Azzopardi, L. Dimech, W. Barbosa (D. Bogdanovic), D. Toure’,  R. Fenech, A. Bello-Osagie (D. Dos Santos), M. Mifsud, J. Gabriel (J. Vandelannoite)

Referee:  C. Lautier

Asst.refs:  T. Debono, P. Abela

4th official: T. Farrugia Cann

Scorers: W. Barbosa 12, 76,  M. Mifsud 20, 46, 89

Player of the match: W. Barbosa (Valletta)

TMI top 3: 1.M. Mifsud  2. W. Barbosa  3. R. Fenech

Attendance: 1004

With Hibernians winning and going temporarily on top before them, the spotlight and pressure turned on Valletta, who made sure they do not slip against sixth place Mosta in yesterday’s second match at Ta’ Qali.

Valletta’s impressive form of late continued with an assured victory. Yesterday they carried too much ammunition for inferior opponents and have showed in the process that they are full of running with the championship getting properly under way.

Michael Mifsud ran the show and helped himself to a hat-trick, going close on several other occasions. William Barbosa also produced a superb performance with his dominance in midfield and scored a brace.

The Valletta side,featuring two forwards and plenty of width, preyed on Mosta’s vulnerability at the back.

Mosta put up a feeble performance and, on this showing, any hopes they harbour of reaching European qualification will have to be shelved. Basten by sheer expertise, it was another worrying defeat.

Mosta, under the guidance of new coach Danilo Doncic, who replaced Steve D’Amato last week, were at full strength, with defender Ferdinando Apap and holding midfielder Carlos Campagnoli back in their starting line-up. Bryan Agius was suspended though.

It was hard to imagine Mosta breaching the Valletta defence with Jonathan Bajada as their most advanced player. But even the introduction of Chikwado Mbonu at the start of the second half failed to sharpen the Blues’ bluntness in attack.

Valletta could afford to use the likes of Jason Vandelannoite, Denni Dos Santos and Daniel Bogdanovic as substitutes. Denni replaced the injured Bello-Osagie shortly before the break.Luke Dimech was facing his former club after starting the season with Mosta.

Valletta, as expected, did the early running and they triggered panic in the Mosta rearguard every time they attacked. The interchanging of  Toure’ and Bello-Osagie up front, was a constant headache for Mosta, with Michael Mifsud, Ryan Fenech and Joa Gabriel exploiting the spaces around the Mosta area.

It took only a dominant Valletta 12 minutes to break the deadlock when Briffa’s low pass from inside the area towards the middle found William Barbosa to score with a blistering shot that renedered Mosta keeper Jeffrey Farrugia helpless.

With Mosta unable to go out of their defensive shell and Valletta raking a series of testing crosses from the right, it was no wonder that the champions doubled their lead on 20 minutes. It was another Toure’ cross from the right for the unmolested Michael Mifsud to head in from close range.

The energetic Mifsud had his shot turned into a corner by keeper Farrugia and the Mosta shot stopper saved on Bello-Osagie. On the half hour, Mifsud again tested Farrugia with a powerful shot but the goalkeeper was equal to task.

Mosta were lucky to be only two goals down at halftime. The league leaders had accumulated enough chances to have easily been four or five up.

But Valletta soon added their third, with hardly one minute after the restart as Michael Mifsud possessed himself inside the area and beat keeper Farrugia with a low diagonal strike.

That enabled Valletta to ease up a bit, although they still remained on top and could control the proceedings with minimal difficulty. On 76 minutes, William Barbosa also scored his second goal with a powerful shot from inside the area on the left.

Keeper Farrugia denied Mifsud a hat-trick with a single-handed save 12 minutes from time but there was no denying the Malta striker on the stroke of time, when he headed low Briffa’s cross to complete the rout.