Eyenga’s late goal saves Wanderers

Sliema Wanderers 1
Eyenga 83
Balzan Youths 1
Pedrinho 63 pen

Sliema Wanderers and Balzan shared the points in a drab match at the Tedesco Stadium yesterday.

The match could not have been more different from the last one they played against each other last month. Fans who hoped of a repeat of the breathless goalfeast of last March 19 were to be sadly disappointed. Instead they saw a drab draw with little excitement.

The match also saw the return of Pietro Ghedin in Malta as the Italian, who is set to be unveiled as the new Malta coach next week, was an interesting spectator at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.

Injury-plagued Sliema were down to the bare bones, forcing Danilo Doncic to make four changes from the team that started against Hibernians.

Henry Bonello and Mark Scerri fell victim to injury as Alex Muscat and Ryan Fenech were only declared half-fit, starting on the bench. With the Wanderers’ rescources stretched to the limit, the Serbian coach named five nursery graduates on the bench.

Pedrinho was declared fit to start to provide the one change to Balzan’s starting line-up.

Apart from a long-range effort from Pedrinho, the first 15 minutes passed with little incident.

The Wanderers were only looking dangerous on set-pieces with defenders Clifford Gatt Baldacchino and Mifsud both sending in dangerous headers from corners in quick succession after 16 minutes.

Nine minutes later, Cilia ran clear on the right and cut the ball for Anicef Eyenga who hit a strong drive that brushed the upright.

Ivan Zammit was forced to make his first substitution on 27 minutes after Glenn Bonello succumbed to injury. He was replaced by Miguel Ciantar.

The Wanderers picked up the pace immediately in the second half but they were initially thrown off-balance by an early Balzan move when Micallef was sent racing through on goal after a clever flick by Ciantar. The striker, seeing Curmi out of his goal, tried to bend the ball into the far corner, only for the goalkeeper to leap to his left and tip it wide.

At the other end, Ciantar’s effort from just outside the area flashed just wide with Curmi helplessly rooted to the spot.

Just before the hour mark, Pedrinho stormed his way towards the edge of the box and the Brazilian was hacked down in the box by Gatt Baldacchino. The Brazilian picked himself up to crash an unstoppable shot past Curmi.

Halfway through the second half, Doncic was forced to take the desperate measure of a double substitution, with Fenech and Alex Muscat replacing Grech and Beppe Muscat respectively.

Fifteen minutes from time, Balzan were reduced to 10-man when Micallef was shown a straight red card for passing remarks.

Eyenga exacted adequate punishment by running on to Muscat’s cross to head home the equaliser with seven minutes remaining.

At this point, Sliema played with the greater urgency and just before the final whistle, Danail Mitev surged through only to see his fierce shot finishing into the side-netting.

Sliema Wanderers

A. Curmi-6, J. Mifsud-6.5, T. Cilia-5, N. Bogdanovic-6, D. Mitev-6, C. Gatt Baldacchino-4.5, A. Eyenga-6.5, S. Bezzina-6, B. Muscat-5 (74 A. Muscat-5), E. Lattes-5, R. Grech-6 (74 R. Fenech-4).

Balzan Youths

M. Camilleri-6 R. Forace-6, B. Guga-6, J. Francica-5, N. Tasic-6, B. Bondin-6, J. Pace-6, D. Grima-6 (90 S. Ciscaldi), G. Bonello (27 M. Ciantar-8), M. Deanov-5 (46 L. Micallef), Pedrinho-6.5.

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.
Yellow cards: Grech, Gatt Baldacchino, Pedrinho.
Red card: Micallef (B) 75.
BOV player of the match: Pedrinho (Balzan Youths).