BIRKIRKARA 0 FC KRASNODAR 3
Granqvist 45, Smolov 75 pen, Joaozinho 89
Birkirkara suffered a heavy defeat in the third round of the Europa League at the hands of their much-quoted opponents FC Krasnodar.
Drazen Besek’s gallant troop did not only battle valiantly and created better scoring chances but their hopes were brusquely dashed by the erstwhile off-colour Krasnodar who hit two goal in the last quarter to all but assure themselves of qualification.
Krasnodar shared the early exchanges but Birkirkara looked compact in the early stages despite their opponents’ superior possession. Their transition from defence to attack was excellent as Shaun Bajada directed a through-ball to Vito Plut who was too quick for his markers and Iurii Gazinzkii had to restore to a foul to tame the Slovenian striker inside the first eight minutes. Two minutes later, Srdan Dimitrov’s menacing cross, landed in the box, prompting Andreas Granqvist to clear the ball away for a corner.
Shy the quarter of hour mark, Miroslav Kopric, flapped at the ball as he tried to clear a dangerous free-kick but the Birkirkara goalkeeper redeemed himself immediately to past an ensuing acrobatic shot by Ari.
On the half hour mark, Krasnodar threatened to surge ahead when Ari, latching onto a cross field pass, volleyed his effort over Kopric but ball hit the bar before bouncing to safety.
Moments later, Kopric did well to touch away a close-range shot by Mauricio Pereyra. When Bubalovic charged down the right and summoned a cross which was cleared into a corner from Stefan Strandberg, the sell-out Birkirkara crowd responded with an appreciative applause.
As Bajada prepared to take the ensuing corner, Birkirkara coach shouted to the midfielder to supply a low cross and the player duly heeded the advice, sending a low swerving shot which crashed against the foot of the post.
On the brink of half-time, Krasnodar opened the scoring. The goal came as a cold shower for the Stripes as Pereyra provided an excellent cross a corner towards the centre of the box where Strandberg directed the ball at the feet of Granqvist who stabbed it firmly past Kopric.
Birkirkara were the brighter side in the early stages of the second half. In a fast counter-attack, they came close to draw level but Plut set up by Dimitrov, blasted the ball high. On 57 minutes, Plut powered his way past Jedrzejczyk on the left before sending in the ball which flew across the face of goal but no other Birkirkara player was on hand to reach his service.
This move looked to have bolstered his team-mates’ belief that Krasnodar defence could be breached. Two minutes later, Krasnodar’s defensive frailties resurfaced as Plut outmuscled Jedrezejczyk again as he managed to get a central shot towards goal despite still being closely shadowed by the defender. This was the clue for Besek to ditch his cautious approach as Frank Temile and Mislav Andelkovic came on for Bajada and Djordjevic respectively.
It was all Birkirkara at this stage. Fifteen minutes from time, Krasnodar scored an ill-deserved goal which, when Marcelina bundled over Aris to concede a somewhat soft penalty which Smolov converted from the spot with aplomb. Birkirkara finished the match with 10 men after Ryan Scicluna’s extended foot stuck Strandberg and the Belgium referee Bart Vertenten gave him the marching orders for a second bookable offence.
At death, substitute Joaozinho put undeserved gloss to the Russian’s win, profiting from Birkirkara’s lax marking to direct a low shot past Kopric to drain Birkirkara’s morale ahead of next week’s return match.