Ten-man Birkirkara come from behind to beat Żabbar and reach Trophy semi-finals

Birkirkara survived the first-half dismissal of Stephan Makoma to come back from a goal down and see off Żabbar St Patrick 2-1.

It was a real test of character for the Stripes, who showed great heart to turn the match in their favour despite playing for more than an hour with one player less.

Birkirkara started brightly, and after ten minutes, Kemar Reid connected to Manuel Morello’s cross but his effort was pushed away by Ignacio Colombo.

Ħabbar responded on 29 minutes when Vinicius De Pavia’s shot was pushed away by the goalkeeper Martinez.

On 34 minutes, Birkirkara were reduced to ten men when Żabbar requested a Football Support Review for an irregular action from Makoma, and the referee, after his review, showed a straight red card to Makoma.

Żabbar took advantage of their numerical superiority early in the second half when on 52 minutes, Vinicius hit a thumping drive that completely caught Martinez by surprise.

However, their lead only lasted ten minutes as Birkirkara pulled level.

Lucas Macula found Reid inside the area and the Malta striker fired home.

Żabbar were rattled, and it was Birkirkara who took the lead on 68 minutes.

A Geoffrey Acheampong shot from a free-kick was somehow kept out by Colombo but from the rebound Lucas Macula fired home.

Żabbar threw caution to the wind in a bid to send the match into extra-time, but Mario Fontanella’s shot was well saved by Martinez.