Ten-man Stripes beat Tarxien to keep the pace
by Ayrton Galea - 12th January 2015
Despite playing with one player less for an hour, Birkirkara FC remained on track after they registered their sixth win from the last seven outings when they defeated Tarxien Rainbows with a 2-1 score.
In a match characterised by the sending off of Matheus Bissi, the Stripes showed great resilience to remain on track and applied pressure on leaders Hibernians when they overcome the challenge of Tarxien Rainbows by scoring a goal in each half, before Tarxien reduced the gap ten minutes from time.
The Stripes were made to sweat at times, as luck was clearly not on their side. Besides Bissi's sending off, The Stripes had Vukanac suffering a knock and had to be substitute, while they had a penalty-kick blocked by the goalkeeper Mintoff who was in top form. Early reports indicate that Vukanac's injury is not serious.
For the second consecutive match, Ledesma won the BOV player of the match, mostly thanks to his stunning strike to put the Stripes ahead, and the excellent through-ball that led for the second goal by Shodiya. For Shodiya, things continued to look bright as the Nigerian's displays showed further improvement, and was once again among the best players of the match.
Mr. Paul Zammit made two changes in the line-up from the 5-1 win over Mosta, but he kept trust in the 4-2-1-3 formation. Gareth Sciberras and Eliandro Gonzaga, both back in the fray after recovering from injury, replaced Edmond Agius and Ellinton Morais.
Haber defended the posts with Bissi and Vukanac as central backs. Camenzuli and Muscat patrolled the side-backs. Fenech and Sciberras were deployed in front of the defence, while Scicluna had a roaming role behind the foreign trio of Ledesma, Gonzaga and Shodiya.
The First Half
Just past the third minute mark, Gonzaga served Sciberras inside the box, who continued the ball in the path of Ledesma, but the Rainbows cleared into safety before Ledesma could finish.
Birkirkara were enjoying most of the possession but they were struggling, to break-through. The Rainbows fielded a very defensive 5-4-1 formation, and made their intentions clear of closing all the gaps for the Stripes' forward line.
Defending in numbers, the Rainbows relied on counter-attacks, and in one of their breakaways, they were unlucky not to surge ahead on the thirteenth minute. An accurate through-ball in the direction of Carlos Hevia Menedez unzipped the Birkirkara defence, and in front of Haber his shot was blocked, before Bissi cleared off the goal-line.
Struggling and frustrated in the opening twenty-minutes by the Rainbows defensive wall, the Stripes were relying on shots from distance, and Camenzuli had his shot from outside the box ending over. Hardly a minute later, Camenzuli sent a long-ball in the path of Ledesma, but Mintoff went out and neutralised the danger.
The Stripes surged ahead on the twenty-fifth minute. From a short corner, Ledesma and Fenech exchanged possession, and Ledesma had a powerful curling strike that beat goalkeeper Sean Mintoff.
Seven minutes later the Stripes ended playing with a player less. Matheus Bissi was adjudicated to have floored Hevia Menedez and denying him a goal scoring opportunity, and Referee Adrian Azzopardi showed him a red-card, leaving the Stripes with ten players with an hour to go.
Birkirkara took some time to settle down again, while for the Rainbows it was a psychological boost and they were now pushing forward more, with most of their play targeted at their most effective player, Hevia Menedez.
As the Stripes regained some of their early confidence, Shodiya produced the last scoring opportunity of the first half, when after dribbling past his marker, the Nigerian forward saw his shot from outside the box ending wide.
The Referee's half-time whistle found the Stripes leading by one but with forty-five more minutes to sweat-out, with one player-less.
The Second Half
The Stripes had to face another set-back at the start of the second half, as Nikola Vukanac who had suffered a knock in the first half, was unable to continue playing and was substituted with Alejandro Mendoza.
The four-line defence was now featuring Mendoza and Muscat, while Scicluna was deployed on the right-back. Camenzuli kept his place as a left back. Shodiya and Gonzaga were on the wings, supporting midfielders Sciberras and Fenech. Ledesma was the only striker in the forced 4-2-2-1 formation.
Birkirkara were the first to threaten in the second half. After seven minutes, in a fast transition, Ledesma served Shodiya who raced forward and had his low shot was saved by Mintoff. Five minutes later, Camemzuli served Fenech who had his first-time shot parried by the Tarxien goalkeeper.
The Stripes could have doubled the lead on the hour mark. Gonzaga was tackled inside the box by Ryan Sammut, and the referee ordered the penalty. However, Ledesma's strike was blocked with an excellent save by Mintoff.
Twenty minutes into the second half, Shola did well to hold possession and serve Sciberras who controlled the ball, but his shot was saved by Mintoff. Five minutes later, after some fine dribbling and a cross by Ledesma, Sciberras headed wide.
Birkirkara made them two, twenty minutes from time. It all started with Ledesma showing great technique, who then sent an excellent through-ball in the path of Shodiya, who did an excellent job to dribble goalkeeper Mintoff and place the ball at the back at the net from a tight angle, to score his fourth goal in the last three matches.
Coach Paul Zammit utilised his second substitution and shifted his team to a more defensive approach. Eliandro Gonzaga, who enjoyed a very good match, was replaced by Edward Herrera on the seventy-seventh minute.
Ten minutes from time, the Stripes could have made them three, when Zach Muscat headed wide a first-post free-kick by Rafael Ledesma, but in their next action the Rainbows reduced the gap. In a quick build-up, they moved the ball behind the Birkirkara defence, and Firas Aboulezz hit past Justin Haber.
The Rainbows were back in the match and, Coach Paul Zammit was quick to make his third and last change. Rafael Ledesma was replaced with Edmond Agius, with the Brazilian player receiving a well-deserved applause.
Birkirkara's plan worked, as they held on to a hard-fought win, and registered their sixth win in seven matches. With this win, the Stripes continue hoping, as finally the team is showing consistency.
Rafael Ledesma was voted as the BOV Player of the Match.
BIRKIRKARA: Justin Haber, Zach Muscat, Nikola Vukanac (46' Alejandro Mendoza), Matheus Bissi, Ryan Camenzuli, Gareth Sciberras, Ryan Scicluna, Paul Fenech, Eliandro Gonzaga (77' Edward Herrera), Rafael Ledesma (85' Edmond Agius), Shola Shodiya.
TARXIEN: Sean Mintoff, Manuel Caruana, Owen Bugeja, Triston Caruana, Firas Aboulezz, Ryan Sammut (74'; Nigel Vella), Carlos Menendez Hevia, Luke Zahra, Alex Cini, Manuel Xerri (80'; Kane Farrugia), Matthew Tabone.
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Assistant Referees: Paul Apap, Sammy Attard.
Additional Assistant Referees: Mario Apap, Glen Tonna.
Fourth Official: William Debattista.
Yellow Cards: 19' Nikola Vukanac, 90' Ryan Camenzuli (Birkirkara) 39' Carlo Hevia Menendez, 42' Triston Caruana (Tarxien).
Red Cards: 32' Matheus Bissi (Birkirkara).
Scorers: 25' Rafael Ledesma, 70' Shola Shodiya (Birkirkara), 81' Firas Aboulezz (Tarxien).
BOV Player of the Match: Rafael Ledesma (Birkirkara).
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