Hotspurs Cruise to a Convincing Win Over Mqabba F.C.

Hotspurs Cruise to a Convincing Win Over Mqabba F.C.

Victoria Hotspurs 4 – 2 Mqabba F.C.

Scorers: 9′ Rondinely Monteiro, 16′, 43′ Shaun Attard, 42′ Auto Goal

There is no stopping to Victoria Hotspurs who, on Friday night at the Centenary Stadium, bagged their fourth league win of the season and therefore remain unbeaten this calendar year. The match was over at half-time already with the Hotspurs being 4-0 up. Mqabba, on paper, should be the main challengers of the Gozitan newcomers this season but committed too many mistakes on the night to challenge the Hotspurs, who now have collected the full 12 points out of the first four games.

The Hotspurs should have taken the lead on four minutes when the unmarked Dylan Mercieca forced Mario Bartolo into a great save with a header from close-range. After Juan Andres Viveros missed a giant opportunity for Mqabba, the Gozitans took the lead through latest Brazilian recruit Rondinely, who beating Bartolo with an intelligent lob on nine minutes. Victoria doubled six minutes later when Shaun Attard was sent through the middle, beating Bartolo with an accurate grounder. The Hotspurs wasted further opportunities by Matthias Said, Emmanuel Mbong and Rondinely, also thanks to some superb goalkeeping of Bartolo. But on 42 minutes, Neil Magri miskicked his clearance to beat Bartolo with a classic own goal, followed by a fourth by Attard just a minute later.

Seven minutes after the re-start, Mqabba pulled one back through Saturday Nanapere who blasted in the roof of the net, rounding off a neat Mqabba attack. Both sides had their chances but three minutes before the end of regular time, veteran substitute Timmy Thomas scored with a magnificent volley which took Hotspurs custodian Adrian Parnis totally by surprise

It was the 19^th consecutive competitive victory for the Hotspurs, as their last competitive loss was against Munxar Falcons in the Gozitan 2^nd Division on 19 December 2023 (1-4), slowly setting up a new record in Maltese football.

Match Report by Malta Football Match Centre