Birżebbuġa St Peter’s secured their first point in the VBET Malta Premier with a 2–2 draw against Mosta in Luciano Santana’s first match in charge.

The Saints twice took the lead through Yuri Messias and Juan Bolanos, but Mosta responded through Giancarlo Goncalves and a late Nevin Portelli penalty, despite being reduced to ten men.

Birżebbuġa created several promising opportunities and could have claimed all three points, while Mosta’s resilience helped them avoid defeat in a third successive match without a win.

Mosta threatened after 20 minutes when Prince Afriyie advanced from midfield and found Ernest Agyiri on the right, but his diagonal effort went narrowly wide.

The Saints responded with two long-range attempts from Jackson Mendoza before Gabriel Costa headed over from a good position following a Rasmus Thellufsen cross. Costa then had a close-range effort blocked by Mosta goalkeeper Udoh Akpan after being supplied by Alex Bruno.

Birżebbuġa broke the deadlock four minutes into first-half stoppage time. A swift counter-attack saw Alex Bruno release Messias, who advanced into the penalty area, rounded Akpan and slotted home.

Messias threatened again shortly after the restart, but Mosta equalised in the 52nd minute. Foguete collected a loose ball following a short defensive clearance and found Goncalves, who evaded a defender before beating Mattia Chiesa with a curling shot.

Chiesa denied Portelli’s close-range header in the 59th minute, while Akpan subsequently turned a powerful Messias effort behind.

From the resulting Mendoza corner, Bolanos headed home in the 66th minute to restore Birżebbuġa’s advantage.

The Saints came close to extending their lead when substitute Kurt Bondin struck the crossbar from the edge of the area in the 71st minute. Three minutes later, Costa tried to catch Akpan off his line with a shot from midfield, but the ball went just wide.

Mosta suffered a further setback in the 76th minute when Goncalves received a second yellow card for dissent, just three minutes after his first booking.

However, the Blues drew level five minutes later. Following a Football Video Support review of a challenge on Kurt Zammit, Mosta were awarded a penalty which Portelli converted to secure a point.

Match details

Competition: VBET Malta Premier
Result: Mosta 2 Birżebbuġa St Peter’s 2
Half-time: Mosta 0 Birżebbuġa St Peter’s 1
Mosta scorers: Giancarlo Goncalves 52’, Nevin Portelli 81’ (penalty).
Birżebbuġa scorers: Yuri Messias 45+4’, Juan Bolanos 66’.
Red card: Giancarlo Goncalves (Mosta), 76’ — second yellow card.