Pietà’s Dylan Agius tries to ward off the challenge of Birkirkara duo Paul Fenech (left) and Edward Herrera.

Birkirkara 2
Ledesma 40; Liliu 75;
Pietà Hotspurs 1
Attard 90;

Redemption is high on the agenda for Birkirkara this term after letting Valletta nip in and take the crown on the final day last season.

The Stripes brought in reinforcements to strengthen their chances of regaining the title next May and on this evidence it looks as though their new set of foreigners could help them attain their objective.

Rafael Ledesma and Liliu proved an instant hit for Paul Zammit’s side as they set the team on course to victory over ten-man Pietà Hotspurs who made a losing start to life back in the top-flight.

Birkirkara were the better team yesterday with Pietà only showing signs of life in the dying minutes of the second half.

Malcolm Licari was charged with the onus of leading the Hotspurs attack with Brazilian midfielders Rafael Zacarias and Rafael Rodrigues providing support from behind, alongside Dylan Agius in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The other overseas player in the Hotspurs’ formation, Leonardo Fortunato, anchored the defence along with Jurgen Pisani.

Liliu, the Brazilian striker, made his full debut for Birkirkara after starting on the bench in the Super Cup. The other four foreigners in the Stripes’ initial XI took up most of the defence and midfield positions.

Setting up in Zammit’s favoured 3-4-2-1 formation, Matheus Bissi and Nikola Vukanac formed a three-man defence near Zach Muscat with Edward Herrera and Ryan Camenzuli operating as wing-backs and Ledesma and Eliandro dep-loyed behind Liliu.

In attack, Birkirkara relied mostly on long balls from Herrera and Camenzuli which David Cassar, the Hotspurs goalkeeper, was equal to.

Yet, in the 40th minute, Ledesma underlined his brilliance with an audacious first-timer to breathe life into his team.

A short clearance by the Pietà defence soared just outside the box where the Brazilian anticipated everyone to fire a volley through a posse of players and into the net via the post.

More Birkirkara goals looked likely at that stage but the closest they went was when Camenzuli’s low drive was blocked by Cassar in two attempts.

The Hotspurs’ quest for an equaliser wasn’t helped by the dismissal of Zacarias with almost half the game remaining as he was sent him off for hitting out at Camenzuli in retaliation.

With 10 men and trailing, the Hotspurs found themselves with their backs against the wall and only the woodwork denied Birkir-kara another goal as Ledesma’s delightful free-kick smacked against the upright.

Noel Coleiro’s ragged outfit were frequently outnumbered at the back.

Fifteen minutes from time, Muscat appeared to have the freedom of the right flank and a square ball from the defender was fired home by Liliu with a shot on the turn – 2-0.

The Stripes persevered with their attacking approach and Camenzuli forced another smart save from keeper Cassar who pushed his long-range shot around the post eight minutes from time.

At the closing stages, the Hotspurs produced one last effort with Cain Attard flicking the ball home from close in following a short free-kick in the box.

However, there was little time left for Pietà to deny Birkirkara from a deserved winning start.

Birkirkara
J. Haber-6, M. Bissi-6, Liliu-6.5 (85 A. Borg), N. Vukanac-6, R. Ledesma-7.5, Eliandro-5 (46 K. Zammit-6), P. Fenech-6.5, Z. Muscat-6.5, R. Scicluna-6, E. Herrera-5 (68 L. Grech-6), R. Camenzuli-7.

Pietà Hotspurs
D. Cassar-7, C. Attard-6, C. Grech-5, L. Fortunato-7, J. Pisani-6, Q. Refalo-5, T. Agius-5, R. Rodrigues-5 (77 N. Pace Cocks), M. Licari-5 (65 C. Cassar-6), R. Zacarias, D. Agius-5 (58 L. Micallef-4).

Referee: Philip Farrugia.

Yellow cards: Scicluna, Agius, Fenech.

Red card: Zacarias (PH) 49.

BOV player of the match: Rafael Ledesma (Birkirkara).