BIRKIRKARA 2
Herrera 16, Andelkovic 18
GZIRA UNITED 1
Cohen 83 pen
Birkirkara edged past Gzira United to keep their flickering title hopes alive.
The Stripes lived up to the billing that they had the qualities to repeat their first round success against Gzira United.
The early indications suggested a comfortable victory for Birkirkara who jolted Gzira United with a two-goal flurry in two minutes but a well-taken goal by Andrew Cohen seven minutes from time threw the Maroons a glimmer of hope.
Gzira United had Cohen making his debut as he took up in the Maroons’ central midfield position alongside the regular duo of Moises Avila Perez and Ige Adeshina in a 4-3-3 formation.
After two early efforts from Cohen and Vito Plut at either end, had gone high, the Stripes drew dividends past the quarter-of-the-hour mark. The Argentine winger Miguel Alba drifted down the left flank, outpacing Andre White in the process before sending a cross towards Herrera who beat Jurgen Borg, the Gzira goalkeeper with a diving header from close range.
Andelkovic, given a roaming role in midfield apart from keeping an eye on Cohen, tried to set up play for his colleagues. He exchanged the ball with Herrera who made a strong run on the flank before returning the ball to Andelkovic to blast the ball behind Borg in a splendid fashion via the foot of the post.
Gzira could not pick up the broken pieces and their huge gaps in midfield started showing.
In their next raid, past the half hour mark, receiving the ball deep into Gzira’s half, Andelkovic strode forward before unleashing a perfectly-flighted shot that crashed against the woodwork.
Gzira left themselves exposed at the back and they were reduced to 10 men, with Souleymane Diamoutene getting a straight red for tripping the goalbound Gonzalo Malan and denying Birkirkara a clear scoring opportunity.
Minutes later, Henry Bonello, the Birkirkara goalkeeper, rushed out of his lines to try and close the way for Scerri. The nippy midfield came crushing down following Bonello’s challenge just outside the box. But referee Sandro Spiteri just booked the goalkeeper, a debatable decision that irked the Gzira players.
Gzira were still trying a comeback while Birkirkara opted to administer their lead. Seven minutes from time, Srdan Dimitrov lifted his hands to Ian Azzopardi’s cross to give away a penalty with Cohen calmly sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. But Birkirkara easily administered the final minutes.