Birkirkara's first defeat in the Premier League
by Ayrton Galea - 19th September 2010
Yesterday, Birkirkara suffered their first defeat in the Premier League when Floriana beat them to the tune of 2-0, in a boring match which saw both sides making several mistakes and whose tempo surely did not reach the expected level.
Once again, Birkirkara had no less than seven players missing as Nikola Vukanac, Patrick Borg, Paul Fenech and Shaun Bajada were all out suspended while Alan Tabone, Esequiel Lovizon and Keith Fenech were out due to injuries.
As opposed to Monday's game, the lack of several players made a lot of difference in Birkirkara's performance making it a poor one, hardly involving 'The Greens' goalkeeper, Lofti Saidi.
Monalito Micallef created the first opportunity for Floriana on the 4th minute as a good cross from the right found 'Mano', but his header was saved by Manuel Bartolo. Birkirkara had their first attempt thanks to Terence Vella with a shot from outside the area.
Birkirkara were denied a clear penalty when Emiliano Lattes entered the box and was tackled by Ivalio Sokolov and, although he did not even touch the ball, referee Chris Lautier signaled a "play on".
Later on, a fine header by Michael Galea was turned into a corner kick by the Floriana goaler.
On the 41st minute, Floriana almost took the lead when Christian Caruana, was in a one versus one situation against Manuel Bartolo. The latter did not hit the ball after he tried the clear the danger, and the Floriana midfielder, in front of an empty net had a wide shot and missed the chance to score.
Finally, 'The Greens' took the lead during the injury time of the 1st half when from a pass by Ivan Woods to Michael Mecerod, the latter managed to beat Manuel Bartolo for the first time in the game.
In the second half Floriana adopted a very defensive tactic that gave the Birkirkara strikers no chance to level matters, and, in fact, thanks to counter attack it was 'The Greens' who managed to sustain the lead.
On the 73rd minute, Floriana almost increased their score when from another fine pass from Ivan Woods to Michael Mecerod, the latter advanced into the box. However, surprisingly enough, his shot ended wide.
Eight minutes from time, Pablo Doffo hit the post after a fine lob over Manuel Bartolo.
Birkirkara replied with a powerful shot from the youngster Rowen Muscat which was neutralized by 'The Greens' goaler.
One became two as in the final minute of the injury time, Kiril Dzhorov beat Manuel Bartolo for the second time.
Birkirkara will be involved in the third game of this premier league against Hibernians on Friday, 24th September.
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