Stripes again halted by late goal

by Ayrton Galea - 9th February 2015

For the third time in a row, Birkirkara FC played a match, but were left blaming their luck, when in a direct match for the second-place, a goal by Roderick Briffa rescued Valletta with the ed match ending in a 1-1 draw.

In a déjà-vu of what happened in the last two weeks, the Stripes were heading for a vital victory, but once again, a late goal denied them the three points.

It was a match that came into life in the last fifteen minutes, when the Stripes took the lead thanks to Nikola Vukanac. However, the Citizens made a strong reaction and their efforts were rewarded on the stroke of the ninetieth minute by an excellent header of Roderick Briffa.

Mauricio Mazzetti had a rock-solid performance in the heart of the Birkirkara defence, and was voted as the BOV Player of the Match.

Birkirkara's Head Coach had to do without four regular players. Ryan Scicluna was suspended, while Sciberras, Gonzaga and Ledesma were all ruled out injured, besides goalkeeper Mirza Hamzabegovic and Ellinton Morais.

Short of strikers', Mr. Paul Zammit fielded a 4-1-4-1 formation. Haber defended the posts while Mazzetti and Vukanac formed the central-backs, with Matheus Bissi and Zach patrolling the side-backs. Muscat was deployed in front of the defence, supporting midfielders Agius and Fenech. Shola Shodiya was the only striker on the day, supported by wingers Herrera and Camenzuli.

The First Half

The game started on a low-key, as both teams utilised the opening minutes of the match to study their opponents, but the Citizens were more aggressive.

The Citizens had an early penalty claim on the fifteenth minute, when Hamza Barry drifted inside the box, but Nikola Vukanac showed excellent skills to block the midfielder from going through. Hamza went down to Vukanac's challenge, but referee Esther Azzopardi waved play on.

Valletta continued to dictate matters in the opening stages. Haber showed great skills to push-away an in-swinging shot by Abdelkarim Nafti , and two minutes later, the latter delivered a second-post corner that saw Steve Borg heading over.

Mid-way in the first half, the Citizens were almost rewarded for their efforts, when Barry's dipping cross saw Llywelyn Cremona's effort blocked by Haber, and the latter, aided by the crossbar, denied the same player from the rebound. Two minutes later, Mazzetti performed an excellent tackle to block Nafti before the latter could pull the trigger, after racing inside the box.

In the first scoring attempt for Birkirkara, Herrera's header, from Fenech's cross, ended wide.

Following a drab patch, Birkirkara tested goalkeeper Pietro Marino for the first time, who was making his first appearance in the league in his second spell with the Citizens, just past the half-hour mark . A direct free-kick by Edmond Agius was easily parried by the Valletta goalkeeper.

As the Stripes increased the pressure, the Citizens started to make mistake. A square-pass by Ryan Camilleri in defence almost gifted Birkirkara an opener ten minutes from time. Camenzuli raced forward to take, possession but his fierce shot ended wide.

Referee's Esther Azzopardi half-time's whistle found both sides heading to their dressing room in a goal-less draw.

The Second Half

The Stripes started stronger in the second forty-five minutes. Agius had a shot failing the target after being served by Herrera. Moments later, the Birkirkara winger sent a threatening cross that was parried by Marino.

Having observed Birkirkara's more adventurous approach in the opening stages of the second half, Valletta's Coach Ivan Zammit opted to put more pressure on Birkirkara's rearguard, and he included Lateef Ellford Alliyu to replace Jonathan Caruana.

The Valletta striker was quickly involved in the action, as on the fifty-seventh minute, after being served by Fenech, he had his shot ending over. Eighth minutes later, Nikola Vukanac took a fierce free-kick from distance, that forced Marino to save in two attempts.

The Stripes continued to grow bolder, and their supporters raised their volume. Matheus Bissi was left in the perfect position to put Birkirkara in the lead on the sixty-sixth minute, following a short-cleared corner, but the Brazilian's shot was denied with an excellent save of Marino.

Birkirkara continued to put pressure on the Citizens, who now looked lacking from inspiration and failing to match the Stripes' aggressive approach. On the seventy-second minute, Agius served Rowen Muscat, who raced forward but his powerful shot ended over.

This was Muscat's last action as the Birkirkara midfielder was unable to continue playing, and he was stretchered off. Dutch striker, Nassir Maachi took his place.

The Stripes scored the opening goal on the seventy-seventh minute. Shodiya raced forward past the Citizens defence, before heading the ball towards Vukanac, and his powerful shot went past Marino.

Valletta threw everything forward, and five minutes from time, Vladimir Savicevic, who had just replaced Dimech, saw his header dropping at the feet of Briffa whose goal-bound shot was blocked by Muscat.

The Citizens levelled matters in their next action. Steve Borg's cross unzipped the defence with the ball rolling towards Roderick Briffa who had his header hitting hard past Haber.

The game erupted as the two teams became stretched. Maachi ‘s attempt from distance went wide, but Valletta went closer as Nafti freed Fenech who took a touch before hitting a drive that was beaten away by Haber. The loose ball dropped to Elford-Alliyu but his rising effort went high.

The referee's full-time whistle found both teams leaving the National Stadium, in which, all in all, was a just draw, with the Stripes once again left blaming their luck for not preserving their lead for the final few minutes.

BIRKIRKARA: Justin Haber, Edward Herrera (85' Antoine Borg), Nikola Vukanac, Mauricio Mazzetti (90+5' Kurt Zammit), Shola Shodiya, Matheus Bissi, Paul Fenech, Zach Muscat, Rowen Muscat (76' Nassir Maachi), Ryan Camenzuli, Edmond Agius.

VALLETTA: Pietro Marino, Jonathan Caruana (51' Lateef Elford-Alliyu), Ian Azzopardi, Steve Borg, Ryan Camilleri, Ryan Fenech, Hamza Barry, Roderick Briffa, Llywelyn Cremona (64' Shaun Bajada), Abdelkarim Nafti, Luke Dimech (85' Vladimir Savicevic).

Referee: Esther Azzopardi.

Assistant Referees: Duncan Sultana, Luke Portelli.

Additional Assistant Referees: Alan Mario Sant, Philip Farrugia.

Fourth Official: Trustin Farrugia Cann.

Yellow Cards: Mauricio Mazzetti (Birkirkara), Steve Borg (Valletta).

Scorers: 77' Nikola Vukanac (Birkirkara), 90' Roderick Briffa (Valletta)

BOV Player of the Match: Mauricio Mazzetti (Birkirkara).

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