Nine-men Birkirkara stun Hibernians
by Ayrton Galea - 28th April 2012
Despite having two players sent off, Birkirkara did what seemed to be impossible and beat Hibernians with a 2-0 score.
Both teams were aiming to collect the three points. While Birkirkara were looking the keep the pace with Floriana for the challenge of the third place, Hibernians were searching to keep their title hopes alive.
Birkirkara were once again a depleted side as Rodrigo Pereira was suspended while Jorge Santos Silva and Paul Fenech were ruled out injured. However Shola Shodiya was back in the starting eleven.
After ‘The Stripes' had Rowen Muscat sent off it seemed that Hibernians will be going to make the most of his dismissal, but not only they did not profit, but they conceded a goal five minutes from half time.
Birkirkara suffered another setback when twenty minutes in the second half, Nikola Vukanac was also sent off. This made it much harder for Birkirkara but not only did they manage to defend the one-goal lead but they added another six minutes from time.
Without any doubt, one should praise all the players for their effort as they succeeded in a hard task which throws the race for the third place wide open once again.
The First Half
In a balanced first half, both teams created chances but both sets of defences were in top form and they rarely gave the attackers much space to operate. After Birkirkara had a player sent off on the 34th minute, they took the lead five minutes later thanks to Shola Shodiya.
In the first action of the match, A long distance shot by Ryan Scicluna on the 1st minute was saved without any problem by Mario Muscat.
On the 2nd minute following a cross by Andrew Cohen for Hibernians, a powerful header by Edison Luis Dos Santos ended over.
An diagonal low shot by Moises Avila Perez after being served well by Shola Shodiya was saved by Mario Muscat on the 7th minute.
A long distance shot by Jackson Lima on the 10th minute was easily saved by Rueben Gauci.
Both teams began to settle down more leaving the strikers with a difficult task to penetrate as most of the possession was played in the middle of the field.
Shola Shodiya , following a very fast solo-run by, rounded a defender and then served Rowen Muscat whose powerful shot was blocked by the defence on the 26th minute.
On the other side of the pitch, just one minute later, a header by Luis Edison Dos Santos ended over.
Rowen Muscat was sent off for hitting an opponent on the 34th minute to leave Birkirkara with ten players for almost another hour.
Following a freekick for Hibernians, a header by Jason Vandelennoite ended over by inches on the 36th minute.
Birkirkara took the lead on the 40th minute when Ryan Camenzuli found Moises Avila Perez who advanced, served Shola Shodiya who saw his first attempt blocked but then slotted home from the rebound.
In the first substitution for Hibernians winger Marcelo Dias replaced defender Jason Vandelennoite, on the 44th minute.
The first half ended with Birkirkara having a 1-0 lead, scoring with ten players on the field.
The Second Half
As one could expect, the second half was largely dominated by Hibernians who put everything up front in search of the equalising goal. After Birkirkara had the second player sent off, things were much harder, but like what happened in the first half they withstood the pressure and then scored a late goal which sealed the match.
Birkirkara created the first chance on the 46th minute when Moises Avila found Shola Shodiya but his diagonal shot ended wide.
Hibernians were unlucky not to equalise on the 50th minute, when a fine solo run by Edward Herrera was concluded with a fine shot which hit the crossbar and ended out.
A weak shot by Jackson Lima on the 51st minute ended wide.
A header from an ideal position by Luis Edison Dos Santos ended over on the 54th minute.
Rueben Gauci made a fine save, rushing out to save the danger following a fine solo-run by Marcelo Dias on the 55th minute.
Birkirkara had a goal disallowed for a offside on the 56th minute when Moises' header was blocked by Mario Muscat and Ryan Camenzuli tapped home, but Moises Avila Perez was deemed to be in an offside position.
Hibernians also had a goal disallowed for an offside position, on the 59th minute, when Edison Luis Dos Santos' header from close range beat Gauci.
A deflected shot by Jackson Lima was saved by Gauci on the 62nd minute. Seconds later, on the other end of the pitch, Shola Shodiya's effort was saved by Mario Muscat.
A freekick by Andrew Cohen ended wide on the 63th minute.
Birkirkara ended playing with nine players on the 64th minute. Following a foul by Nikola Vukanac, the referee showed a straight red card to the Serbian defender.
A header by Luis Edison Dos Santos following a corner on the 67th minute ended over.
A long distance shot by Hibernians was saved by Rueben on the 75th minute.
In the first substitution for Birkirkara, Moises Avila Perez was replaced with Michael Camilleri on the 75th minute.
A weak header by Edison Luis Dos Santos ended wide on the 78th minute.
On the 79th minute, In the second substitution for Hibernians, defender Jonathan Pearson was replaced with Peter Chizoba Anizoba with the aim to give more strength in the attacking department.
A powerful shot by Edison Luis Dos Santos ended over on the 79th minute.
In the third and last substitution for Hibernians, on the 80th minute, Bjorn Kristensen was replaced with Johann Bezzina.
A shot for Hibernians from outside the box ended wide on the 82nd minute.
In the second substitution for Birkirkara, Shola Shodiya was replaced with Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza on the 83th minute.
Birkirkara made them two on the 84th minute when in a fast counter attack, Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza found Ryan Camenzuli whose low powerful shot beat Mario Muscat to score his first Premier League goal.
Hibernians ended with 10 players on the pitch in the 86th minute when Rodolfo Soares suffered an injury and could not continue, with all the three substitutions already utilised.
A shot by Andrew Cohen ended over on the 88th minute.
On the 90th minute, Jean Pierre Mifsud was fouled from behind by Clayton Failla who was the last man for Hibernians, with the referee surprisingly showing a yellow instead of a red card.
A direct free-kick by Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza ended wide by inches on the 92nd minute.
Rodolfo Soares entered the pitch again the last two minutes and Hibernians were once again with eleven players on the 92nd minute.
The full time whistle found all the Birkirkara supporters applauding the players for their effort in beating Hibernians with nine players.
Shola Shodiya was voted the BOV man of the match.
BIRKIRKARA: Rueben Gauci, Angus Buhagiar, Nikola Vukanac, Gareth
Sciberras, Joseph Zerafa, Rowen Muscat, Ryan Camenzuli, Ryan Scicluna, Shaun Bajada, Shola Shodiya (83' Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza), Moises Avila Perez (75' Michael Camilleri).
HIBERNIANS: Mario Muscat, Jonathan Pearson (79' Peter Chizoba Anizoba), Jason Vandelennoite (44' Marcelo Dias), Rodolfo Soares, Ryan Camilleri, Bjorn Kristensen (80' Johann Bezzina), Andrew Cohen, Jackson Lima, Edward Herrera, Clayton Failla, Luis Edison Dos Santos.
Scorers: 44' Shola Shodiya, 84' Ryan Camenzuli (Birkirkara)
Yellow Cards: Angus Buhagiar, Shola Shodiya, Shaun Bajada (Birkirkara), Clayton Failla (Hibernians)
Red Cards: Rowen Muscat, Nikola Vukanac (Birkirkara)
Man of the match: Shola Shodiya
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