Birkirkara 4
Camenzuli 4, 22; Ledesma 14, Maachi 90
Sliema Wanderers 2
Muscat 8, Pisanu 17
Birkirkara finished on top of this roller-coaster to extend their unbeaten run to 13 matches.
The game was only four minutes old when Zach Muscat’s looping free-kick from a wide position on left landed at the feet of Birkirkara winger Ryan Camenzuli who poked home to put his team 1-0 up.
In their next significant foray into Birkirkara’s half, Sliema levelled. Mark Scerri passed to Sliema skipper Alex Muscat who took one touch before arrowing his shot past Justin Haber who remained rooted to his spot.
Both teams displayed a refreshingly attacking mindset. Birkirkara regained the lead shy the quarter-of-hour-mark when they were awarded a free-kick after Marko Potezica flattened Eliandro just outside the box and Rafael Ledesma bent his shot beyond the wall and away from Glenn Zammit’s reach. It was Ledesma’s 13th goal of the season.
The tit-for-tat nature of the game persisted. Sliema made it 2-2 after 17 minutes. Pedrinho was hauled down by Muscat on the edge of the box and Andrea Pisanu curled his free-kick past the wall and into the top corner.
Birkirkara were again quick to respond. Ledesma did the spadework, making headway on the left before aiming a perfect cross towards Camenzuli who headed the ball behind Zammit.
Past the half hour mark, Paul Fenech sprinted towards goal before unleashing a fierce shot which was warded off by Zammit, in came Camenzuli who miscued the rebound. On the other side, Mateus Ribeiro anticipated the onrushing Haber but dragged his effort just wide.
Ten minutes after the break, Edward Herrera made good progress on the wing before cutting ball for Camnenzuli whose grounder flashed against the side-netting.
On the hour mark, Haber produced a smart save to keep out Pedrinho’s free-kick. Sliema’s afternoon took a negative twist when Marko Potezica was dismissed for hauling down Ledesma through on goal.
At death, the Sliema goalkeeper Zammit went up for the corner. But the ploy worked against the Wanderers as Herrera made a quick transition from defence to attack to set up Paul Fenech on the right flank. The Birkirkara skipper delivered an inch-perfect cross to substitute Nassir Maachi who headed the ball into an empty net.
The match ended in commotion for an alleged elbowing of Sliema striker Pedrinho on Birkirkara’s Kurt Zammit soon after the referee Trustin Farrugia Cann blew the final whistle.