Brilliant Stripes on to the Europa League 2nd round
by Ayrton Galea - 7th July 2016
A brilliant Birkirkara FC side secured a place in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. A five-star performance and a goal in each half saw the Stripes defeating NK Siroki Brijeg with a 2-0 score, and a 3-1 aggregate score. The Stripes will now face Heart of Midlothian of Scotland or Infonet Tallinn of Estonia in the next round.
Birkirkara wrote a new page in Maltese's history when they qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League for a second consecutive time. This is a feat that no other Maltese club has ever managed to do.
It was a deserved result for the Stripes who enjoyed an edge over their opponents for most of the first-half. They took the lead thanks to Srdjan Dimitrov, who stole the limelight with his terrific display. An own goal by Siroki in the second-half put Birkirkara's minds at rest, and a place in the second qualifying round in the bag.
Head Coach Drazen Besek made just one substitution from last Thursday's first-leg match as Shaun Bajada replaced Ryan Camenzuli. The Croatian Coach also called-up Under-19's Team forward Joseph Willy, but he still had to do without Edmond Agius and Nikola Vukanac who were both injured.
Besek made no tactical changes as he fielded a 4-1-4-1 formation. At the back Bubalovic and Jovic lead the pack, while Attard and Zerafa started as side-backs. The central-back duo produced a bold defensive display to keep confident goalkeeper Kopric with little to do, while Attard and Zerafa made an excellent job on the sides.
Marcelina had a certainly improved performance in his position of linking the defence and the midfield while captain Sciberras had another brilliant and tireless performance in the heart of midfield. Scicluna and Bajada, who started at the either side of Plut, both had a very good match as well.
Dimitrov's continuous runs on the flank tormented the defence who could only rely on a number of harsh tackles on the Serbian technical player. On the other hand, Plut once again played an excellent role as the only striker for Birkirkara and he contributed with an eye-catching back-heel pass in the first goal while also played the key-role for the second goal.
The First Half
The Stripes looked more aggressive as from the first whistle. They were quick to send a message of their intentions with the first scoring chance after just two minutes. Dimitrov and Bajada combined well by exchanging passes before the latter served Sciberras inside the box who had his first shot blocked and from the rebound, the same player had his shot ending over.
Birkirkara went close again just five minutes later as they were streets ahead of their opponents in the opening moments. An accurate ball from midfield caught the defence on the wrong foot to put Plut in an ideal position past the defence and his fierce shot was turned into a corner kick, with a fine save from the goalkeeper Antonio Soldo.
The opening twenty-five minutes were balanced. The Stripes were enjoying more possession and they were keeping the Siroki's strikers at bay as the steady Bubalovic and Jovic left Kopric little to do bar routine saves while in attack, Dimitrov was being the most dangerous player along-side with Plut.
The attacking duo of Dimitrov and Plut has been the most dangerous for the Stripes and on the twenty-eighth minute, the two offensive players combined brilliantly for the opening goal. A pass by Marcelina in the path of Plut saw the Slovenian striker hit a fine back-heel to put Dimitrov past the defence who sprinted forward and hit a well-struck low strike past goalkeeper Soldo.
The Stripes could have scored the second goal six minutes from half-time. Scicluna played an excellent ball to Plut who sprinted past the defence and hit a powerful first-time strike but his shot from ideal position scratched past the far post. Moments later, Scicluna also got past the defence but his weak shot was easily saved.
The Second Half
The Stripes were quick to attempt to double the lead, when just five minutes into the second half. Dimitrov showed great vision to lob the ball over the defence in the path of Bajada. Bajada's cross found Plut who hit a fine drive that forced goalkeeper Soldo to save in two attempts.
However, Siroki went also close four minutes later in their first decent chance of the match. A cross from the right, and their team captain Wagner Lago hit an eye-catching bicycle kick but an alert Kopric did a fine save to turn his effort into a corner-kick.
The visitors began to pile up the pressure and Birkirkara's coach utilised his first substitution. Matthew Guillaumier was included instead of Ryan Scicluna who received a standing ovation on his way out of the pitch, following a very good performance.
Siroki began to push forward but they were punished with the second goal for their flat defending fourteen minutes from time. Zerafa sent a through-ball to Plut on the left flank and the latter beat the offside trap to advance forward and sent a low-cross which was deflected by Stipo Markovic into his own net.
It was an up-hill struggle for the visitors who looked frustrated and out of ideas. They tried to put numbers up front but they could not get past the solid defence while Kopric intervened with a number of well-timed outings to ensure a clean-sheet in this prestigious match.
The full-time whistle found the Birkirkara clan erupting with joy for another prestigious qualification while the Birkirkara supporters cheered their players for an excellent match.
BIRKIRKARA: Miroslav Kopric, Cain Attard, Christian Bubalovic, Predrag Jovic (79' Ryan Camenzuli), Joseph Zerafa, Emerson Marcelina, Ryan Scicluna (65' Matthew Guillaumier), Gareth Sciberras, Shaun Bajada, Srdjan Dimitrov (74' Edison Bilbao), Vito Plut.
SIROKI BRIJEG:Antonio Soldo, Boris Pandža (46′ Josip Barisic), Dino Coric, Zoran Plazonic (46′ Jure Ivankovic) , Ivan Krstanovic, Ivan Baraban (79′ Luka Menalo), Wagner, Ivan Sesar, Slavko Brekalo, Ivan Crnov, Stipo Markovic.
Referee: Rahim Hasanov (AZE).
Assistant referees: Namik Huseynov, Vagif Musayev (AZE).
Fourth official: Rauf Jabarov (AZE).
Yellow Cards: 59' Predrag Jovic, 67' Joseph Zerafa, 87' Miroslav Kopric (Birkirkara), 66' Dino Coric, 73' Ivan Baraban, 45' Slavko Brekalo, 77' Josip Barisic (Siroki).
Scorers: 28' Srdjan Dimitrov, 76' Own Goal (Birkirkara).
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