Stripes survive late scare and narrow the gap
by Ayrton Galea - 20th March 2015
A goal by Mauricio Mazzetti two minutes from time enabled Birkirkara FC to return to winning ways and survive a late scare by Pieta Hotspurs . Thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 victory they consolidated their second place in the BOV Premier League and narrowed the gap with leaders Hibernians to eight points.
Despite the result suggesting otherwise, the Stripes had countless scoring opportunities. However, they were just two minutes away from dropping another two points, before Mazzetti saved the day with his first goal.
The Stripes were boosted with the return of Paul Fenech and Ini Akpan, although the latter was not called-up in the eighteen-man squad. Fenech replaced Edmond Agius, while Nassir Maachi replaced the unavailable Rafael Ledesma, and Ryan Scicluna started at the expense of Kurt Zammit.
Coach Paul Zammit fielded an 4-2-3-1 formation, continually shifting to an offensive 4-3-3. Haber defended the posts, Mazzetti and Vukanac formed the central-backs while Zach Muscat and Zerafa patrolled the side-backs. Rowen Muscat and Fenech started as the defensive-shield in front of the defence while the midfield trio was composed of Scicluna, Maachi and Camenzuli. Shola Shodiya was the only forward.
The First Half
The Stripes went close after just eight minutes. Macchi's corner from the left-wing failed to be parried by Montfort with the ball landing at the feet of Mauricio Mazzetti, whose close-range strike was cleared off the goal-line by Christian Grech.
Birkirkara continued to press forward and on the tenth minute, Ryan Camenzuli sprinted past his marker but his cross-shot failed to be hit by Shodiya from just a few yards out. In another occasion for the Stripes, three minutes later Zach Muscat set Scicluna inside the box, but the latter's shot was turned into a corner by Montfort.
The Stripes' superiority remained evident and they went close once again on the sixteenth minute. A cross by Ryan Camenzuli was punched by Montford, only for the ball to roll in Shodiya's path but his effort from close-range was blocked by a defender.
Pieta finally managed to get out of their own half and they had their first scoring opportunity. Charles Newuche penetrated the box and released Claudio Frances, but his shot from inside the box ended over.
Camenzuli sent a teasing cross to Maachi, who was unlucky to see his spectacular scissor kick scratching past the far post, with the Pieta goalkeeper beaten.
The tempo of the match decreased but the Stripes remained in control, and Nassir Maachi had two consecutive shots failing to hit the target. The Stripes frustration was evident as after the first forty-five minutes they had nothing to show for their superiority.
The Second Half
Rowen Muscat, who was not in the best condition after being sick was substituted by Kurt Zammit at the start of the first half. Zammit was included as a central forward, with Shodiya deployed in midfield.
Pieta threatened first in the second half, when they were quick to transfer the ball forward to Luke Micallef with the latter advancing forward but his shot sailed over. On the other side of the pitch, Birkirkara had a penalty claim ignored by Referee Chris Lautier, when the appeared to have touched Jurgen Pisani's arm.
In a rare situation when the Pieta defenders lacked concentration, they had a bad clearance in with the ball reaching Maachi, whose cross-shot failed to be hit by Zammit in front of goal.
The Stripes heaved a sigh of relief twenty minutes into the second half, when they finally broke the deadlock. Joseph Zerafa's fierce strike was blocked by an acrobatic save of Montford, who turned the ball into a corner kick. From the resulting corner kick, Maachi found Zach Muscat whose first-time strike ended in the net.
Coach Paul Zammit made the second substitution on the sixty-eighth minute, as Edward Herrera replaced Ryan Camenzuli, who enjoyed another good match, especially in the first half. Herrera was included on the right wing while Maachi switched to the left side.
The Stripes went close to adding their second goal on the seventy-fourth minute, when Maachi and Zerafa played a short corner with the latter returning the ball to Maachi, and his cross passed in front of goal with Zammit failing to hit in an open net.
This was Maachi's last action as in Birkirkara's third substitution on the seventy-seventh minute, he was replaced by Edmond Agius.
With just ten minutes remaining Pieta pressed forward. A header by substitute Gabriel Da Silva was parried by an alert Haber. Pieta levelled matters five minutes from time. Luke Micallef released Jurgen Pisani down the left wing and his cross found Leonardo Fortunato heading from close-range.
There was more drama in store as Pieta's thoughts that they had salvaged a point lasted only three minutes. Montford made a brilliant save to push away Vukanac's header into a corner. From the corner kick taken by Agius, Mazzetti had his first-attempt blocked but from the rebound fired home much to the joy of the Birkirkara clan.
The Stripes should have sealed the issue with the third goal in the first minute of added time when, in an action built by two substitutes, Herrera served Edmond Agius but his shot from close-range was blocked by the Pieta goalkeeper.
Referee Chris Lautier's full-time whistle found the Stripes surviving a late scare as they returned to winning ways to make sure of staying in the second place before the break for the international matches.
Paul Fenech, who had an excellent performance in the heart of Birkirkara's midfield, was named as the BOV Player of the Match.
BIRKIRKARA: Justin Haber, Joseph Zerafa, Mauricio Mazzetti, Nikola Vukanac, Zach Muscat, Ryan Camenzuli (68' Edward Herrera), Rowen Muscat (46' Kurt Zammit), Ryan Scicluna, Paul Fenech, Nassir Maachi (78' Edmond Agius), Shola Shodiya.
PIETA: Miguel Montfort, Karl Micallef, Christian Grech, Leonardo Fortunato dos Santos, Jurgen Pisani, Rafael Rodrigues da Silva, Cain Attard (67' Dylan Agius), Luke Micallef, Charles Nnaekeka Newuche (54' Joao Gabriel da Silva), Ricardo Costa (77' Kyle Cesare), Claudio Frances.
Referee: Chris Lautier.
Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Peter Abela.
Fourth Official: Sandro Spiteri.
Scorers: 65' Zach Muscat, 88' Mauricio Mazzetti (Birkirkara), 85' Leonardo Fortunato (Pieta Hotspurs).
BOV Player of the Match: Paul Fenech (Birkirkara).
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