Birkirkara beat Żabbar SP, clinch first league victory

BIRKIRKARA 1-0 ŻABBAR SP
Maxuell 45 pen.

Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.

Yellow cards: Micallef, De Paiva, Jovicic, Tavares, Gaitan, Volpe, Oliveira.

A penalty late in the first-half handed Birkirkara a narrow win over newly-promoted Żabbar St. Patrick.

For Birkirkara, this was the first win after earning a point in a draw with Balzan last week. Their performance was far from impressive, also considering that they were on the receiving side for most of the first half.

On the other hand, Żabbar could consider themselves quite unlucky to leave Ta’ Qali empty-handed as they suffered their second defeat.

Birkirkara coach Stefano De Angelis and Joao Janiero, his Żabbar counterpart, both opted for two changes following their first outing.

For Birkirkara, Pablo Gaitan and Leandro Lacunza were preferred to Manuel Morello and Shaun Dimech while Brian Gambarte and Joao Pedro were handed a start for Żabbar with Leo Agius and Marcelo Barros being among the substitutes.

Żabbar held the initiative throughout the first half, creating the better chances. Martim Ferreira concluded a good move with a shot from outside the area which was turned into a corner on 17 minutes.

Direct from a corner from the left, Ferreira tested Volpe but the Birkirkara custodian blocked his attempt eight minutes from the end of the first half and four minutes later, Ferreira delivered another fine cross from the left for Diogo Tavares who failed to connect well from close range.

However, just before half-time, Birkirkara scored the all-important goal. Martim Ferreira floored Leandro Lacunza inside the area, referee Malcolm Spiteri ordered a penalty and Maxuell converted.

Just past the hour, Maxuell concluded a good run with a shot from the edge of the area but goalkeeper Matthew Grech turned the ball into a corner. From the resulting corner, the Brazilian forward headed the ball just wide.

Nine minutes from time, substitute Marcelo Barros had a shot from outside the area deflected into a corner and from the resulting corner, a close-range effort by David Oliveira was parried by the Birkirkara custodian.

As Żabbar kept pressing for the equaliser, another substitute, Sean Gatt, hit just wide after receiving an inviting cross from the left on 89 minutes.