BIRKIRKARA 0 FLORIANA 0

Gunning for a seventh straight victory in all competitions, Birkirkara failed to beat Floriana a tricky encounter.

It was Birkirkara who took the initiative early on but for all their possession they did not create any clearcut goal-scoring opportunities. Instead it was Floriana who could have taken a shock lead on 18 minutes when Juninho, having started from an offside position, pushed Steve Bonnici’s header over the line when it seemed that the ball would have crossed the line even without the Brazilian’s contribution.

For the rest of the half there were few goalscoring opportunities as both sets defence seemed to gain the upperhand on their opposing forwards.

It was until the 41st minute, when in-form Ryan Camenzuli broke free on the left flank and blasted a powerful shot that was punched away by Matthew Calleja Cremona. From the ensuing corner, the ball was transferred quickly upfront to Mauricio Villa who sped into the box through the middle but his central strike was pawed away by Miroslav Kopric.

Ten minutes after the break, a sprightly move by Matteo Picciolo had the Stripes’ rearguard on its toes. The Italian striker rolled the ball forward to outsprint his marker Cain Attard before arrowing a shot which just missed the target.

Few minutes later, Floriana were pounding the Birkirkara fort again as Antonio Monticelli headed a cross by Juninho in but Villa failed in his attempt to direct the ball goalwards.

Twelve minutes from time, a delightful one-two between Ryan Darmanin and Matthew Guillaumier, in for Goran Mujanovic, had the Floriana rearguard chasing but the young midfielder failed to make to test Calleja Cremona, as he thought to be in an offside position.