Ten-man Birkirkara rally to grind out point against Sliema Wanderers

BIRKIRKARA 1

Maia 56

SLIEMA WANDERERS 1

Plut 35

BIRKIRKARA

G. Volpi, M. Morello, A. Sandona (46 Maicon), S. Dimech, P. Mbong (58 N. Micallef), K. Zammit, A. Satariano, L. Lacunza, A. Coppola, M. Maia, Y. Gnamien (55 S. Paintsil) (78 L. Cardova)

SLIEMA

E. Agu, J. Borg, A. Magri Overand (77 M. Awad), V. Plut, M. Beerman, G. Alcino, Wescley (67 J. Bastos), H. Freire, G. Acheampong, S. Zibo, S. Pisani

Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.

Yellow card: Zammit,Maia, Zibo, Dimech, Satariano, Beerman

Red card: Maia (B) 69.

Ten-man Birkirkara held on to earn a point against an enterprising Sliema Wanderers side.

Vito Plut had given Sliema the lead but the Stripes got the deserved equaliser after the break.

However, after Maxuel Maia’s dismissal midway through the second half, the Blues failed to finish off their opponents and had to settle for a draw, and remain five points adrift of the leaders.

Maia was restored to Birkirkara’s initial formation in the only change from the Stripes’ 2-0 victory over Mosta.

Geoffrey Acheampong and Vito Plut were drafted into the Sliema’s starting XI as the Wanderers lined up in a 3-5-1-1 formation.

Plut faced a testing time in a lone role against Birkirkara’s strong trio of defenders – Alessandro Coppola, Agustin Sandona and Kurt Zammit.

Yet the Slovenian striker looked offside on 35 minutes when the ball landed at his feet, he almost looked surprised that the assistant referee kept his flag down.

Yet, the striker kept cool, outsprinted the onrushing goalkeeper Giacomo Volpi to deposit the ball into the net.

That failed to rouse Stefano De Angelis’s side from their slumber and instead, it was Sliema who continued to press forward.

On 41 minutes, Simon Zibo hit a rising shot which finished wide.

Birkirkara mentor De Angelis tried to put more power to his attacking options at half-time by replacing defender Sandona with the agile Maicon.

The Brazilian sounded a warning shot with a low effort.

Then Alexander Satariano played a great ball over the top and Sliema’s defence made a rare error in allowing Maia to beat the offside trap and hit a powerful shot past the stranded Emeka Agu.

This was the cue for De Angelis to bring on former Ħamrun Spartans striker Seth Paintsil who joined the Stripes just last week.

Sliema reacted immediately as Steve Pisani hit a scorching drive from a free-kick that forced Volpi into a fine one-handed save.

As De Angelis attempted to steady the ship, replacing Paul Mbong with Neil Micellaf, Maia was involved in little more than a routine battle for possession with Myles Beerman near the touchline before lashing out at the Sliema player.

Maia’s second booking and dismissal set up a grandstand finish.

There was a bizarre moment on 78 minutes when Paintsil, himself a 55th-minute substitute, was replaced by Lucas Cardova, to the Ghanaian’s apparent displeasure.

The Wanderers went for the win, with Bastos almost snatching it at the death for Sliema.

But in the end a draw was a fair result from a pulsating game.