Rampant Stripes rout Tarxien

Birkirkara 5
Vukanac 36; Comvalius 59 pen., 82 pen., Galea 75; Pulo 90
Tarxien Rainbows 1
Denni 63

After Qormi and Valletta had kept up the pace at the top with important victories on Saturday, the onus was on Birkirkara to stay on the heels of the front duo.

If Saturday's results had augmented the pressure on them, Birkirkara certainly responded to the challenge in resilient manner as Paul Zammit's men stretched their unbeaten run to five matches with a comprehensive victory over Tarxien.

Despite Tarxien's wobbles of late, this fixture was still seen as a tricky one for the Stripes as on their day, the Rainbows can make life difficult to any team... ask Valletta.

But Birkirkara were too strong for the lacklustre Tarxien who found it hard to get to grips with their opponents' graft in midfield and penetrative football on the wings.

Zammit was forced into a last-minute change after George Mallia sustained an injury during the warm-up. His void was filled by young Rowen Muscat.

Paul Fenech returned to the starting XI after suspension and Joseph Zerafa was also available after serving a one-match ban. However, the young wing-back was left on the bench as Zammit confirmed Shaun Bajada at left-back.

Tarxien were buoyed by the return of striker Ribeiro as Noel Coleiro put his team out in a 4-1-4-1 formation.

Creative football proved elusive for much of the opening 20 minutes despite the two teams' toils to establish a foothold.

Midway through the opening half, Birkirkara, who stuck with 4-3-3, protested for a penalty when Sylvano Comvalius appeared to have been shoved to the ground by Manuel Caruana and Lee Galea as he tried to meet a cross from Trevor Cilia but referee Saviour Tanti saw nothing wrong.

An excellent Birkirkara move unlocked Tarxien's defence as Cilia cut in from the right before laying the ball to Fenech who in turn teed up Bajada but the latter's piledriver was diverted away for a corner.

This episode heralded a spell of sustained pressure from the Stripes. From the corner, Cilia touched the ball to Tabone whose shot was palmed over the bar by David Cassar.

Birkirkara were now looking as threatening as the dark clouds hovering over Corradino and deservedly nosed ahead nine minutes from half-time. Bajada's corner flew towards the goalmouth where Nikola Vukanac rose unimpeded to head past Cassar.

The rain didn't disrupt Birkirkara's momentum as Zammit's men kept their foot on the pedal. Cassar thwarted Comvalius when repelling his header after Tarxien failed to clear Tabone's corner.

Tarxien's trouble to cope with set-pieces was in clear evidence as from another flag-kick, taken by Bajada, Comvalius headed the ball towards Branko Nisevic whose grounder grazed the post.

Tarxien manufactured a promising move early in the second half when James Shead picked out Denni who lifted the ball towards Luke Vella Critien but Nisevic cleared the danger.

Minutes later, Jorge Mora, the Birkirkara keeper, did well to parry David Camilleri's free-kick.

The second half was 14 minutes old when Birkirkara moved 2-0 up.

They were awarded a penalty after Steve Sadowski was adjudged to have pulled Cilia in the box.

Comvalius made no mistake from the spot.

Coleiro's response to Birkirkara's second goal was to bring on Gianluca Calabretta for Shead and switch to 4-4-2.

If Birkirkara thought the game was over, they soon received a reality check. Tarxien narrowed the deficit when Camilleri's free-kick fell to Denni whose first effort was warded off by Mora but from the rebound, the Brazilian scored.

Having replaced Tabone with Zerafa, Zammit instructed Bajada to move to midfield. The switch paid off as Zerafa combined with Bajada who ran clear before dragging in a cross for Galea who headed home at the far post.

Birkirkara put their minds at rest when, with eight minutes remaining, Comvalius scored his second penalty, given for a Luke Vella Critien handball.

A third penalty was whistled by Tanti after Angus Buhagiar nudged Denni off the ball in the Stripes' box but the latter's spot-kick was kept out by Mora.

In stoppage time, Karl Pulo, who had just replaced Bajada, rounded Birkirkara's scoring when beating Cassar with a well-placed shot.

Birkirkara
J. Mora-7, T. Cilia-6.5 ('87 A. Galea), N. Vukanac-6, B. Nisevic-7, P. Fenech-6.5, A. Tabone-6 ('70 J. Zerafa-5.5), R. Muscat-6, A. Buhagiar-7, S. Bajada-7.5 ('85 K. Pulo), M. Galea-6.5, S. Comvalius-7.

Tarxien Rainbows
D. Cassar-5.5, S. Sadowski-5, M. Caruana-5, D. Camilleri-6, Ribeiro-4, M. Tanti-5.5 ('80 R. Previ), J. Shead-4 ('60 G. Calabretta-4), L. Vella Critien-5, Denni-6, L. Galea-6, K. Magro-6 ('78 W. Zerafa).

Referee Saviour Tanti.

Yellow cards Shead; Bajada.

Missed penalty Denni (T) 84.

BOV player of the match Sylvano Comvalius (Birkirkara).