Birkirkara march on as Swieqi edge past Hibernians in women’s league

Stripes maintain four-point lead at the top of the Assikura Women’s League.

BIRKIRKARA 4-0 MĠARR UNITED
Veronique Mifsud 26; Alishia Sultana 59, 87; Arianna Del Moral 65.

Birkirkara flexed their muscles in their first Top Four game as they hit four past Mġarr United for the second consecutive week.

The Stripes took the lead inside the opening 26 minutes through Veronique Mifsud.

After the change of ends, Birkirkara doubled their lead through Alishia Sultana before goals from Arianna Del Moral and Sultana’s second helped the Stripes to cement their league lead.

Jose Borg handed a debut to Japanese signing Nanako Kobayashi midway into the second half.

On the other hand, Mġarr United – now under the guidance of coach Patrick Curmi, remain fourth on 26 points as their title hopes are all but gone having slipped to 14 points behind Birkirkara with 8 games left.

BIRKIRKARA
J. Xuereb; G. Zahra, A. Said, S. Farrugia, F. Chircop (54 S. Saliba), A. Sultana, V. Mifsud (80 I. Farrugia), C. Zammit, M. Grosso (54 N. Kobayashi), A. Del Moral (80 R. Giusti), C. Rogers.

MĠARR UNITED
P. Ebejer; L. Cabral, A. Camilleri, M. Debono, F. Peinado (79 S. Fenech), Y. Carella, L. Cefai (64 K. Agius Pace), A. Sivolobova, R. Bajada, C. Grech, B. Borg.

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SWIEQI UNITED 1-0 HIBERNIANS
Karima Abdulai 51

Swieqi United scored a second-half winner to put some daylight between them and Hibernians in the standings.

Karima Abdulai’s goal lifted the Owls to 36 points as they have now opened a four-point gap between them and the Paolites in second place.

Saviour Darmanin’s Swieqi were without key forward Salamatu Abdulai who is currently with the Ghana U-20’s for their World Cup qualifications.

Replacing her upfront was Malta international Jade Flask who is gradually starting to gain more minutes having recovered from a long-term knee injury.

On the other hand, Hibernians missed influential midfielder Nicole Sciberras who was not available for selection.

Abdulai’s goal came midway into the second 45 minutes when she fired past Zeeyana Jivraj from close-range.

SWIEQI UNITED
P. Araujo; J. Dimech, D. Theuma, J. Flask (60 M. Sciberras), K. Abdulai, S. Zammit, Rafanny, J. Schembri, T. Falzon, M. Cachia, K. Micallef.

HIBERNIANS
Z. Jivraj; N. Geren, C. Ellul, A. Busuttil, K. Chetcuti, S. Urpani, M. Borg, Y. Attard (76 N. Celeste), K. Norkus, L. Ayres, A. Espitia.

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VALLETTA 3-0 LIJA ATHLETIC
Anna Aloisio 8, Sarah Vella Barberi 12, Megan La Rosa 85.

MTARFA 0-6 SAN ĠWANN
Andela Kricak 8, 39, 87; Shania Gheiti 28, Yasmin Attard 66, Oumaima Mhalli 71.

STANDINGS

TOP FOUR
Birkirkara 40, Swieqi United 36, Hibernians 32, Mġarr United 26.

BOTTOM FOUR
Valletta 21, San Ġwann 13, Lija Athletic 7, Mtarfa 0.