Pereira gem gives Giorev a happy debut

Mqabba 2
Msida St Joseph 1

Back in September, Marcelo Pereira hit a hat-trick when Mqabba pulled off a shocking 3-2 win over Sliema Wanderers in the first round. The Brazilian was on mark again yesterday with an exquisite goal nine minutes from time to give bottom-placed Mqabba only their second victory in 18 matches and their first under new coach Bobby Giorev who was making his debut.

Mqabba deserved their win yesterday as they were the more enterprising outfit against an Msida team whose early momentum was jolted by the petulance of Tyrone Farrugia. The Malta U-21 defender was sent off for retaliation after 32 minutes, at which stage this team were leading 1-0.

With three wins and a draw from their last four outings, Msida were seen as outright favourites to prolong their unbeaten run and widen their gap on Pietà Hotspurs and Mqabba but Farrugia's red card, lacklustre performances by their forward players and their opponents' tenacity shattered their high optimism.

Gilberto Dos Santos, scorer of the penalty which sealed Msida's 2-0 win over Hibs, earned a starting role yesterday, taking the place of the suspended Priso Doding whose absence was sorely felt by the Saints.

Matthew Camilleri retained the no.1 jersey for Msida while at the other end, Kris Calleja was making a comeback for Mqabba after recovering from injury.

Two speculative shots by Msida's Pedro Dos Santos Calcado aside, the early exchanges were marked by a shortage of scoring chances. Then, out of the blue, Msida forged ahead, Adrian Farrugia guiding the ball past Calleja at the far post after receiving a cross from Roderick Baldacchino.

Mqabba might have equalised when Marlon Briffa's cross from the right was headed by Dylan Zarb but Camilleri pushed away the former Valletta midfielder's effort.

Giorev's optimism about an Mqabba comeback ought to have increased when, with 13 minutes of the first half remaining, Tyrone Farrugia was shown a straight red card for kicking Claudio Calleja after the two had contested possession in the middle of the pitch.

Trailing 1-0 but with an extra man on the pitch, Giorev introduced John Mintoff, an attacking midfielder who joined Mqabba on loan from Sliema Wanderers in the summer, for Brazilian defender Italo Donizete Nogueira at half-time.

The second half was only two minutes old when Msida moved forward dangerously as Gilberto, now operating alone in attack, supplied the steaming Baldacchino who tried to flick the ball past the on-rushing Calleja but the Mqabba goalkeeper stretched his arms to palm the ball away.

Mqabba sought to infuse more urgency and pace into their play as the second half progressed. Their efforts paid off after 14 minutes when Mintoff's corner from the right was partially cleared by Msida and defender Mauro Bonnici capitalised with a sweetly-struck volley that sailed into the top right-hand corner of Camilleri's goal.

The momentum was with Mqabba now, Calleja seeing a strong free-kick deflected away for a corner.

Sensing his team's toils to cope with Mqabba's vigorous approach, Patrick Curmi, the Msida coach, opted to strengthen his team's defence armoury with the introduction of Patrick Borg and Andrew Spiteri for Baldacchino and the ineffective Pedrinho.

Giorev made his second substitution 17 minutes from time, hauling off Zarb, who was having a good outing, for Morgan Onourah.

Just when it seemed as though Msida had seen off the storm, Mqabba struck with a magnificent goal from Pereira. The Brazilian had not been much in evidence for much of the preceding 80 minutes but he stole the attention when finishing off a diagonal run with a thunderous, dipping shot that left Camilleri hapless.

Four minutes from the end, a header by Msida defender Clive Brincat was too central to trouble Calleja.

Mintoff, whose agility and speed gave Mqabba an extra dimension in the second half, threatened to increase his side's lead but Camilleri saved his angled effort.

Mqabba: K. Calleja-6, M. Bonnici-6.5, A. Busuttil-6, I.D. Nogueira-4.5 ('46 J. Mintoff-6.5), M.A. Psaila-6, M. Briffa-6.5 ('90 E. Navarro), M. Pereira-6.5, C. Calleja-6.5, D. Zarb-6.5 ('73 M. Onourah-5), M. Cocks-6, C. Gatt Baldacchino-5.5.

Msida: M. Camilleri-6, P. Sciriha-6, S. Grima-6, K. Spiteri-6.5, C. Brincat-6.5, D. Cachia-5.5, T. Farrugia, A. Farrugia-5 ('80 L. Mizzi), R. Baldacchino-6 ('64 A. Spiteri-5), G. Dos Santos-4.5, P. Dos Santos Calcado-4 ('69 P. Borg-5).

Referee: Andrè Arciola.

Scorers: Farrugia 23; Bonnici 59; Pereira 81.

Yellow cards: Busuttil; Bonnici; Pereira; Mintoff; K. Spiteri; A. Spiteri; Cachia.

Red card: T. Farrugia 32.

BoV Player of the match: Marlon Briffa (Mqabba).