Floriana 1
Coronado 54;
Birkirkara 3
Jhonnattann 4, 41; Temile 73;

Birkirkara put an end to Floriana’s positive run of late.

Inspired by Brazilian livewire Jhonnattann, the Stripes coasted to a comfortable 3-1 victory over the Greens at the Tedesco Stadium.

Jhonnattann was without doubt the star performer for the champions as the nippy forward tormented the opposing defence with his lightning pace while his well-taken brace in the first half put Birkirkara on the way to their third successive victory.

Floriana, who had some key personnel missing, tried to make a fight out of it when their Brazilian stalwart Igor Coronado managed to pull one back.

But the Stripes quickly regained control and their superiority was rewarded with a third goal from substitute Frank Temile in the late stages.

Birkirkara remain third in the table on 23 points, three adrift of leaders Hibernians and one behind second-placed Valletta.

Paul Zammit, the Birkirkara coach, was boosted by the return from suspension of Paul Fenech but Gareth Sciberras was still sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Terence Vella was given the nod to take the central striking role at the expense of Temile and Demba Toure who had to settle for a place on the bench.

Floriana’s defensive resources were severely stretched yesterday as Gary Roberts and Ibok Edet were ruled out by suspension.

Andre Scicluna recovered from an ankle problem to take his place in the heart of defence alongside Francesco Guzman.

Nigerian defender Sunday Eboh is still out injured.

Birkirkara hit the ground running, going close to taking the lead inside the opening minute. In a quick foray, Jhonnattann picked out Vella inside the area but the latter’s header flashed just wide.

Floriana failed to heed the alarm bells and three minutes later the Stripes scored. Shola Haruna sent a defence-splitting pass towards Jhonnattann and the Brazilian beat Daniel Hanford with a firm drive.

Floriana thought they had grabbed an equaliser five minutes later when Christian Caruana served Steve Pisani inside the area and the Floriana striker headed past Justin Haber. However, the ‘goal’ was ruled out as Pisani was adjudged to have been in an offside position.

After that early flurry of chances, the match entered a lull as the Stripes’ efforts were hindered by poor passing in the final third.

They had to wait until 10 minutes from the break to create another scoring opportunity. Ryan Scicluna won possession in midfield before directing a through-ball towards Jhonnattann who saw his low shot blocked by Hanford.

The Greens were struggling to contain the swift movement of Jhonnattann and five minutes from the break, the Brazilian doubled the Stripes’ lead.

Jhonnattann beat the Floriana offside trap to latch on to Rowen Muscat’s long pass before lobbing the ball over Hanford.

Floriana coach Ian Dawes was clearly unhappy with his team’s effort.

At the start of the second half, he withdrew Brooke Farrugia and Francesco Guzman in favour of Giacomo Favero and Diogo as the Greens switched to a three-man defence featuring Sacha Borg, Scicluna and Joseph Borg.

Jhonnattann continued where he left off in the first half as, a minute into the second period, he burst past the Greens backline but his angled drive ended just wide.

On 54 minutes, Hanford came to the Greens’ rescue when he somehow palmed away Matheus Bissi’s dipping header.

That turned out to be a crucial intervention as, from the resultant corner, Floriana seized possession and Coronado raced into the Birkirkara area before beating Haber with a bold drive.

Here, Zammit looked to energise his team when he took off Scicluna and Vella and roped in Daniel Zerafa and Temile.

Danger loomed for Floriana on 72 minutes when Joseph Zerafa hit a pass towards the unmarked Jhonnattann but the Brazilian was anticipated by Sacha Borg who cleared the ball away for a corner.

But the champions were not to be denied as from the ensuing corner, taken by Jhonnattann, Temile’s downward header beat Hanford after taking a deflection off Sacha Borg.

Twelve minutes from time, Kurt Zammit, who had just replaced Haruna, was denied the joy of a goal by the woodwork as his header came off the bar.

At the other end, Caruana sped clear on the right before squaring to Diogo whose thumping drive was brilliantly pushed over by Haber.

The Birkirkara goalkeeper again distinguished himself seven minutes from time when he dived full stretch to keep out Coronado’s shot after the Brazilian had created space in the box with some delightful dribbling.

Floriana
D. Hanford-6, S. Pisani-6, C. Caruana-6 (84 L. Casha), I. Coronado-6.5, C. Borg-6, J. Borg-6, B. Farrugia-5 (46 G. Favero-5.5), F. Guzman-5 (46 Diogo-6), A. Scicluna-6, G. Muir-6, S. Borg-6.

Birkirkara
J. Haber-7, M. Bissi-6, A. Mendoza-6, Jhonnattann-7.5, R. Scicluna-6 (63 D. Zerafa-6), J. Zerafa-6, P. Fenech-6.5, R. Muscat-7, S. Haruna-6.5 (77 K. Zammit), T. Vella-6 (63 F. Temile-6.5), Z. Muscat-6.

Referee: Paul Apap.

Yellow cards: J. Borg; R. Scicluna; Favero.

BOV player of the match: Jhonnattann (Birkirkara).

Attendance: 872.

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Hibernians	10	8	2	0	25	10	26
Valletta	10	8	0	2	21	7	24
Birkirkara	10	7	2	1	15	7	23
Sliema	10	5	3	2	18	12	18
Mosta	10	5	0	5	19	16	15
Naxxar Lions	10	4	2	4	14	13	14
Vittoriosa	10	2	3	5	11	18	9
Qormi	10	2	2	6	12	18	8
Balzan	10	2	2	6	9	16	8
Tarxien	10	2	2	6	13	22	8
Floriana (-6)	10	3	3	4	13	14	6
Rabat Ajax	10	1	1	8	5	22	4