Birkirkara 1
Miccoli 15;
West Ham United 0

(AET; West Ham win 5-3 on pens)

On a momentous night for Maltese football, Birkirkara came tantalisingly close to achieving the impossible dream only to see their hopes fizzle out in the most dramatic and most cruel manner.

Who would have thought their Europa League second qualifying round tie against West Ham, from the super-rich and glamorous English Premier League, would go down to the wire but last night’s events at a buzzing National Stadium defied belief.

Birkirkara, playing some terrific stuff, not only wiped out the 1-0 deficit from last week’s match at Upton Park but pushed their opponents all the way.

With the aggregate score tied at 1-1 after extra-time, it was on to the lottery of penalties as the 15,000 fans crammed in the stands held their breath.

The quality of Birkirkara’s first two penalties, expertly put away by captain Paul Fenech and Slovenian striker Vito Plut, matched their extraordinary performance but when Nikola Vukanac blasted high from the spot, there was no coming back for the Stripes.

West Ham had been made to look ordinary by the indefatigable Stripes but their experience and class told in the shoot-out as they converted their five penalties with substitute Diego Poyet sealing their hard-earned win.

To West Ham therefore goes the prize of a third qualifying round clash with Romanian club Astra Giurgiu but it was Birkirkara who earned the admiration of the ecstatic crowd at the National Stadium and beyond.

In what was arguably the most eye-catching and impressive showing by a Maltese team in the history of European club football, Birkirkara turned up the heat on West Ham from the off.

Well-drilled by their brilliant Italian coach Giovanni Tedesco, the Stripes dictate the tempo, making a mockery of Slaven Bilic’s pre-match comments that he expected West Ham to dominate 70 per cent of the game.

Bilic had also suggested that his team were too good for Birkirkara but he was proved wrong on all counts as Tedesco’s men not only stifled West Ham, who had James Tomkins sent off on the brink of half-time, but they poured forward with vigour with Fabrizio Miccoli hitting the target early on to further galvanise his team.

All the Birkirkara players exceeded themselves last night with Liliu tormenting the Hammers with his agile running, Rowen Muscat driving his team forward from midfield before succumbing to injury and Paul Fenech and Ryan Camenzuli patrolling the wings.

There was also a positive debut for Emerson Marcelina while, at the back, Mauricio Mazzetti was immense before his late sending-off, Vukanac was his usual solid self and wing-backs Zach Muscat and Joseph Zerafa did their duties almost impeccable.

The same goes for goalkeeper Justin Haber who produced another reassuring performance but was helpless to stop West Ham in the shoot-out.

An electric atmosphere reached a crescendo when the two teams trotted out on to the pitch with the Stripes faithful unfurling a giant yellow-red flag amid shouts of ‘Birkirkara, Birkirkara’.

Tedesco’s selection contained one notable surprise as new signing Marcelina was thrust straight into the thick of the things.

The Brazilian, who sat in front of the back four in a diamond midfield, was preferred to Bosnian forward Edin Murga as Tedesco moved to stiffen his midfield.

Having deployed his team in a 4-1-4-1 formation for last week’s match at Upton Park, Tedesco switched to 4-4-2 with Miccoli partnering Brazilian Liliu.

Slaven Bilic, the West Ham manager, made two changes from the first leg, roping in midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate and defender James Collins instead of Modibo Maiga and William Reid.

Argentine Mauro Zarate, named player of the match in the first leg, took up the striker’s role in a 4-2-3-1 approach.

The hosts hit the ground running.

Birkirkara’s sprightly start further raised the level of expectancy as Tedesco’s men took the game to West Ham.

There was a scare for West Ham when Miccoli’s menacing cross, from a free-kick, landed in the box, prompting Matthew Jarvis to clear the ball away for a corner.

West Ham threatened in their first foray into Birkirkara’s half.

Mark Noble’s corner from the right was partially cleared, the ball dropped invitingly to Jarvis whose low strike was stopped by Haber.

The packed stadium erupted on 15 minutes when Birkirkara stormed ahead.

Their transition from defence to attack was excellent as the two Muscats, Zach and Rowen Muscat, exchanged passes before releasing Fenech who directed a through-ball to Liliu who was too quick for his markers.

The Brazilian surged into the box before hitting a low cross into the box and Miccoli, who else, slid in to stab the ball past Adrian.

Cue scenes of indescribable joy on the terraces.

The onus was now on the Hammers to up the rhythm. They rallied, briefly, but Birkirkara remained the more composed side.

West Ham’s toils to get to grips with Birkirkara’s ebullient approach was causing concern for Bilic.

Tempers flared in the latter stages of the first half when, as Aaron Cresswell was preparing to take a free-kick down the inside-right channel, Tomkins appeared to haul down Vukanac as the two grappled inside the box.

The Serbian defender needed medical attention and, when the tension receded, Albanian referee Enea Jorgji cautioned Vukanac before brandishing the red card to dismiss the West Ham defender to loud cheers from the baying crowd.

On the stroke of half-time, Marcelina had a grounder blocked by Adrian after good work by Liliu on the right.

The second half was five minutes old when Adrian fisted away Miccoli’s teasing cross-shot, from a left-wing corner. The Italian was first to the clearance but his weak grounder rolled past the near post.

At the other end, Jarvis headed over from Noble’s cross but Birkirkara retained the initiative, forcing two quick corners as the speed of Liliu and Miccoli’s probing troubled West Ham’s makeshift defence.

Bilic made a double substitution, throwing on two attack-minded players in Poyet and Maiga instead of Nolan and the ineffective Morgan Amalfitano.

Haber needed two attempts to tame Zarate’s corner.

Midway into the second half, Miccoli made good progress on the left after being released by Camenzuli who was on hand to receive the return pass but his outswinger was off target.

The Birkirkara goalkeeper was prominent again when parring away Jarvis’s angled effort after the latter had been sent clear by Noble.

A hobbling Rowen Muscat, a stand-out performer for the Stripes, made way for Edmond Agius 20 minutes from time.

With 13 minutes remaining, Vito Plut came on for the tiring Miccoli.

As the game crawled into the final 10 minutes, Liliu blasted wide from the distance. Fenech also tried his luck but his long-range belter was blocked by Adrian.

On the cusp of time, the outstanding Liliu accelerated clear on the left but his cross was headed away by Collins.

A mistake by Marcelina, who grew increasingly erratic in the second half, almost gifted West Ham an opening but his team-mates came to his rescue before the Albanian referee blew the whistle.

On to extra-time. From a short corner, Jarvis’s low cross was diverted away for another corner.

Birkirkara were quick to break on the counter with Plut running the length of the pitch, putting pressure on the back-tracking West Ham players but his scrambled effort sailed into Adrian’s hands after taking a deflection.

The crowd regained its voice. The game became stretched as tiredness crept in.

When the second half of extra-time got underway, Mazzetti gave away possession in a dangerous position but the low-key Zarate rifled high and wide.

Moments later, Mazzetti was expelled after earning a second booking for clipping an opponent’s leg.

Yet, it was the Stripes who almost struck as Kurt Zammit, who had replaced Marcelina, broke through the centre before serving Agius but the latter’s curler was too weak to unsettle Adrian.

The West Ham goalkeeper broke down a dangerous Birkirkara attack when coming out to intercept the marauding Plut who had been sent clear by Fenech.

Responding to the pleas of Tedesco and club president Adrian Delia, the fans rose to shout encouragement for the gallant Birkirkara players.

Four minutes from the end, Maiga had the ball in the net but the Mali forward had strayed offside.

That was that as referee Jorgji’s whistle sent the game into penalties.

Birkirkara
J. Haber, E. Marcelina (97 K. Zammit), M. Mazzetti, P. Fenech, R. Camenzuli, F. Miccoli (77 V. Plut), N. Vukanac, Liliu, J. Zerafa, Z. Muscat (70 E. Agius), R. Muscat.

West Ham United
Adrian, A. Cresswell, K. Nolan (59 D. Poyet), J. Tomkins, M. Jarvis (120 M. Samuelsen), C. Kouyate, M. Zarate, M. Noble, J. O’Brien, J. Collins, M. Amalfitano (50 M. Maiga).

Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania).

Yellow cards: Miccoli; Noble; Fenech; Mazzetti; Vukanac; Plut; Collins; Agius.

Red cards: Tomkins (WH) 45; Mazzetti (B) 108.

Attendance: 15,257.

Penalty sequence
Noble (WH) scores 1-0; Fenech (B) scores 1-1; Zarate (WH) scores 2-1; Plut (B) scores 2-2; Cresswell (WH) scores 3-2; Vukanac (B) misses 3-2; O’Brien (WH) scores 4-2; Agius (B) scores 4-3; Poyet (WH) 5-3.

Birkirkara players’ ratings
Haber-7, Marcelina-7, Mazzetti, Fenech-7, Camenzuli-7, Miccoli-7, Vukanac-7, Liliu-8.5, Zerafa-7.5, Z. Muscat-7.5, R. Muscat-8.

Subs: Agius-7, Plut-7, Zammit-6.5

Aftermatch comments

Giovanni Tedesco (Birkirkara coach): “I’m really proud of my players after such an extraordinary performance. It’s disappointing that the final result was not in our favour but that is football.

“My players have some exceptional qualities and they put them on show tonight.

“I would like to thank all the Maltese fans who came to the stadium. Today, it was not just the Birkirkara fans who were supporting us and that shows that we managed to transmit some great emotions.”

Rowen Muscat: “It’s always disappointing to bow out on penalties but overall we should be proud of our achievements.

“I’m still coming to terms with what happened tonight as it’s a great achievement for a modest club like Birkirkara to beat a team of the calibre of West Ham after extra-time.

“No doubt things look bright for Birkirkara for the upcoming season. There are some things that we need to improve on but I believe that we have what it takes to challenge for the main honours.”

Second qualifying round

Europa League – yesterday’s second legs

	1st leg	2nd leg	Agg
Aberdeen vs HNK Rijeka	3-0	2-2	5-2
Alashkert FC vs Kairat Almaty	0-3	2-1	2-4
Beitar Jerusalem vs Sporting Charleroi	1-5	1-4	2-9
Birkirkara vs West Ham United	0-1	1-0	1-1
(West Ham win 5-3 on penalties)
Botosani vs Legia Warsaw	0-1	0-3	0-4
Brondby IF vs Beroe	1-0	0-0	1-0
Debrecen vs Skonto Riga	2-2	9-2	11-4
Dinamo Minsk vs Cherno More Varna	1-1	4-0	5-1
Elfsborg vs Randers FC	0-0	1-0	1-0
FC Astra Giurgiu vs Inverness C. Thistle	1-0	0-0	1-0
FC Differdange 03 vs Trabzonspor	0-1	1-2	1-3
FC Shirak vs AIK Solna	0-2	0-2	0-4
FC Thun vs Hapoel Beer Sheva	1-1	2-1	3-2
FK Qabala vs FK Cukaricki	0-1	2-0	2-1
FK Spartaks vs Vojvodina	0-3	1-1	1-4
Hajduk Split vs Koper	2-3	4-2	6-5
IFK Goteborg vs Slask Wroclaw	0-0	2-0	2-0
Inter Baku vs FH Hafnarfjordur	2-1	2-2	4-3
Linfield vs Spartak Trnava	1-2	1-3	2-5
Mladost Podgorica vs Kukesi	1-0	2-4	3-4
Newtown vs FC Copenhagen	0-2	1-3	1-5
Nomme JK Kalju vs FC Vaduz	1-3	0-2	1-5
Odd Ballklubb vs Shamrock Rovers	2-0	2-1	4-1
Omonia Nicosia vs Jagiellonia Białystok	0-0	1-0	1-0
PAOK Thessaloniki vs Lokomotiv Zagreb	1-2	6-0	7-2
Rabotnicki vs FK Jelgava	0-1	2-0	2-1
Rosenborg vs KR Reykjavik	1-0	3-0	4-0
Stromsgodset vs Mlada Boleslav	2-1	0-1	2-2
(Stromsgodset through on away goals)
Trakai FK vs Apollon Limassol	0-4	0-0	0-4
UCD vs Slovan Bratislava	0-1	1-5	1-6
Wolfsberger vs Shakhtyor Soligorsk	1-0	2-0	3-0
Zeljeznicar vs Ferencvaros	1-0	2-0	3-0
Zilina vs Dacia Chisinau	2-1	4-2	6-3

Third qualifying round draw

FC Zurich vs Dinamo Minsk
Kairat Almaty vs Aberdeen
MSK Zilina vs FC Vorksla Poltava
AZ Alkmaar vs Istanbul Basaksehir
Bordeaux vs AEK Larnaca
PAOK vs FC Spartak Trnava
Sampdoria vs FK Vojvodina
Slovan Liberec vs Hapoel Kiryat Shmona
Athletic Bilbao vs Inter Baku
Targu Mures vs Saint-Etienne
FK Kukesi vs Legia Warsaw
Qabala FK vs Apollon Limassol
FK Rabotnicki vs Trabzonspor
Debreceni vs Rosenborg
Charleroi SC vs FC Zorya Luhansk
Wolfsberger vs Borussia Dortmund
Brondby vs AC Omonia
FK Jablonec vs FC Copenhagen
Sturm Graz vs Rubin Kazan
AIK Solna vs Atromitos
SCR Altach vs Vitoria SC
FC Thun vs FC Vaduz
IF Elfsborg vs Odd Ballklubb
Standard Liege vs FK Zeljeznicar
Hajduk Split vs Stromsgodset IF
Belenenses vs IFK Gothenburg
Southampton vs Vitesse
West Ham United vs Astra Giurgiu
FC Krasnodar vs Slovan Bratislava

First legs: July 30. Second legs: August 6.
Play-off round draw: August 7.