Stripes and City in a goal-less stalemate

by Ayrton Galea - 19th April 2016

Birkirkara FC climbed to the third place of the BOV Premier League on Sunday evening, when they produced an excellent performance in a goal-less draw against league leaders Valletta FC.

The Stripes left the National Stadium blaming their luck for not taking the three points from this encounter but certainly that they left brimming with confidence following a very satisfactory performance.

In-front of the biggest attendance in the league this season, Birkirkara needed a win to keep their title hopes alive while Valletta were all-out to return to winning ways. The full-time result didn't satisfy the needs of either side but it was the Stripes who went out with heads held high applauded by their numerous supporters.

Birkirkara were the sharpest right from the start and they produced the better scoring opportunities. They kept pushing till the end and in the final stages it was only two wonderful saves by Henry Bonello, the Valletta goalkeeper, while to add to Birkirkara's frustration by the lack, they were also denied by the up-right just two minutes from time.

Head Coach Mr. Drazen Besek fielded a 4-2-3-1 cum 4-3-3 formation and made just one change from the last match against St. Andrew's. Goran Mujanovic retained his first-eleven place by replacing Kurt while Vito Plut kept his place with the starting eleven.

Kopric defended the posts, Bubalovic and Mazzetti formed the centre-backs while Attard and Zerafa started on the sides. Andelkovic and Sciberras started as holding midfielders while Scicluna was given an advanced role in midfield. Temile and Mujanovic patrolled the wings at the either side of striker Plut.

The First Half

The Stripes went out with all guns blazing and went close after just four minutes. Mauricio Mazzetti powered himself on the left flank before serving Ryan Scicluna who sent a cross to the path of Temile who saw his lob turned into a corner kick by the alert goalkeeper Henry Bonello.

Birkirkara fired another warning of their intention on the tenth minute. Andelkovic picks-up Temile who sprinted past his marker Ian Azzopardi before sending a dangerous cross but the Valletta defender was first to clear the ball before Mujanovic could poke the ball home from just some yards out.

Valletta begin to settle. In a swift counter-attack, Abdelkarim Nafti advanced unchallenged on the left side before his cross was parried by Kopric. The Citizens were then unlucky on the fifteenth minute when Jhonnattann Benites' fierce drive came off the crossbar.

However, on the twentieth minute, the Stripes threatened again. Christian Bubalovic's through-ball from the ball found Vito Plut who powered himself in the box past two Valletta markers and prompting goalkeeper Henry Bonello to go out of his place. The Slovenian forward got past him but saw his effort deflected into a corner kick.

The Citizens struggled to find the pace as the high-pressing of Birkirkara in all departments unsettled them. However, they produced a fine opportunity when Nafti swapped passes with Briffa before having his shot ending over. Nine minutes from half-time, Nafti was in action again with a powerful shot but Kopric did an excellent acrobatic save.

Three minutes from time, frustration was clear to see from the Valletta faithful when Nafti's weak header from an ideal position ended wide following an accurate cross by Benites as the first-half ended goal-less.

The Second Half

The second-half started on a slower note but it was Birkirkara who once again were the first to threaten. Goran Mujanovic did well to get past of his two markers but his shot took a deflection and was easily saved by Henry Bonello.

Just past the hour mark, Nafti whose below-level performance certainly didn't go well with the Valletta supporters was substituted by Michael Mifsud. Nafti looked upset by this change as he headed straight to the tunnel.

Michael Mifsud left quick impact as it took him a matter of minutes to produce a dazzling run on the right side before his powerful drive was deflected into a corner kick. From the resulting corner kick taken by Benites, the Birkirkara defenders did well to clear into safety.

Mid-way in the second-half, the Citizens should have taken the lead in a rare occasion when the Birkirkara defenders were caught on the back foot. Cremona combined with Benites before serving Falcone who unchallenged inside the box flashed his shot wide much of the frustration of the Valletta clan.

Mr. Drazen Besek made two substitutions in space of seven minutes. Hard-worker Ryan Scicluna was replaced by Edmond Agius on the sixty-ninth minute while seven minutes later Goran Mujanovic was replaced by Ryan Camenzuli.

The Stripes were unlucky not to surge ahead two minutes from time when Temile supplied a vertical through-ball to Plut who avoided the challenge of Cruz Gill but his shot was denied by the up-right with Bonello beaten.

Goalkeeper Henry Bonello was the protagonist in the final stages. A brilliant free-kick from a diagonal angle by Edmond Agius forced Bonello to dive full stretch to turn the ball into a corner kick and in the first minute of added time, Bonello produced another wonderful save to deny Plut's curling strike to save a point for the Citizens.

Birkirkara rock-solid defender Mauricio Mazzetti was voted as the BOV Player of the Match.

BIRKIRKARA: Miroslav Kopric, Cain Attard, Christian Bubalovic, Mauricio Mazzetti, Joseph Zerafa, Mislav Andelkovic, Gareth Sciberras, Ryan Scicluna (69' Edmond Agius), Frank Temile, Goran Mujanovic (76' Ryan Camenzuli), Vito Plut.

VALLETTA: Henry Bonello, Ian Azzopardi, Ryan Camilleri, Juan Cruz Gill, Roderick Briffa, Federico Falcone (75' Rafael Ledesma), Llywelyn Cremona (84' Jean Borg), Claudio Pani, Uchenna Umeh, Jhonnattann Benites, Abdelkarim Nafti (62' Michael Mifsud)

Referee: Alan Mario Sant
Assistant Referees: Roberto Vella, Peter Abela.
Additional Assistant Referees: Esther Azzopardi, Malcolm Spiteri.
Fourth Official: Duncan Sultana.

Yellow Cards: 22' Cain Attard, 30' Mauricio Mazzetti, 51' Joseph Zerafa (Birkirkara) 19' Ryan Camilleri, 73' Michael Mifsud, 85' Uchenna Umeh (Valletta)

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

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