BIRKIRKARA-2, ĦAMRUN SPARTANS-2
Birkirkara's disappointing season continued this afternoon when the outgoing champions twice surrendered the lead in a 2-2 draw with Ħamrun Spartans at the National Stadium.
The drawn outcome dealt a blow to the Stripes' Europa League hopes as they are now two points behind Floriana with only three games left.
Birkirkara goalkeeper Manuel Bartolo parried away an angled effort from Dyson Falzon after just two minutes.
The Stripes' optimism rose when they were awarded a penalty after Ħamrun defender Karl Magro pushed the sprinting Ibrahim Babatunde inside the box. Referee Andre Arciola booked Magro but goalkeeper Omar Borg came to Ħamrun's rescue as he dived to his left to keep out Rowen Muscat's shot from the spot.
This came after 10 minutes. Birkirkara didn't have to wait long to open the scoring, as on 12 minutes, Babatunde slotted the ball home from close range after his jinking run into the box had unsettled the Spartans' rearguard.
Three minutes later, the Spartans made it one-all when Falzon's speculative drive from the right surprised Bartolo who was beaten at the near post.
Birkirkara quickly regained the initiative to re-establish their lead on 20 minutes. Babatunde played a key role in Birkirkara's second goal as the Nigerian, exploiting the yawning gaps in the Spartans' defence, sped into the box from the left and crossed for Trevor Cilia whose first-time effort spun off Borg's gloves and rolled into the net.
Two-one up, Birkirkara maintained their momentum. Emiliano Lattes hit just wide after Steve Bonnici had cleared away Cilia's attempt.
Cilia had another two excellent opportunities to increase his side's advantage but on both occasions, his shots lacked precision.
Four minutes from the end of the first half, Angus Buhagiar surged forward through the middle before passing Cilia who turned inside the box but his curling drive was high and wide.
Birkirkara's failure to convert their first-half chances came back to haunt them early in the second half.
Five minutes from the start of the second period had elapsed when Ħamrun's Brazilian forward Marcelo Pereira pounced on a mistake by Joseph Zerafa and ran into the box before hitting past Bartolo.
A dipping cross-shot by Falzon threatened to give Ħamrun the lead for the first time but Bartolo tipped the ball over the crossbar.
The tempo of the game dropped as Birkirkara struggled to recover from Pereira's goal. Substitute Karl Pulo had a close-range effort saved by Borg and, on another occasion, Galea just failed to get on the end of Pulo's cross.
Five minutes from time, Borg again denied Birkirkara when pushing Lattes's lopping drive onto his near post.
In a rare counter-attack, the Spartans almost sneaked a winner as Pereira released substitute Daniel Zerafa whose piledriver was beaten away by Bartolo.
Birkirkara suffered another blow when Paul Fenech was dismissed for a second booking but the Stripes could still have won it were it not for Spartans goalkeeper Borg who palmed away Babatunde's point-blank header.