Stripes stay on winning track
An early goal by Miguel Alba and another by Gonzalo Malan in the dying minutes kept Birkirkara on their winning track and left Pembroke facing the abyss at the bottom of the league standings.
But the match was dull, prosaic, lacking any form of creativity.
Birkirkara found the going tough after a confident start as Pembroke defended stoutly, putting eight and nine men behind the ball, but there was a lethargy to their play.
Thanks to this win, their fourth in five matches, Birkirkara consolidate fourth place with 51 points. Their next opponents are Balzan, Valletta and Hibernians, the three teams above them, and the Stripes may well be decisive in the final outcome of the title win.
Birkirkara were sharp in possession, occasionally passing the ball crisply. That caused Pembroke prolonged problems and for long spells they were pinned inside their own half, trying to close the gaps and limit the damage, to improve on their dismal defensive record, having shipped in 17 goals in the previous four matches. Radovnikovic, Levnaic, Scozzese, Iraklis Roppas and Racic were tirelessly vigiliant at the back.
But they did not play with any impetus or apparent desire to raise the temperature and seldom troubled Birkirkara keeper Bonello. Darren Falzon was too isolated up front.
The Stripes, forced to make one change, with Predrag Jovic playing for the suspended Vukanac in defence, started confidently enough and opened the scoring after eight minutes. Miguel Alba rose to meet Dimitrov’s cross from the left and head past keeper Roppas.
But as the half progressed, the Stripes at times looked expensively sluggish, lacking enough motivation. They looked menacing again past the half hour when Dimitrov headed Brincat’s cross wide. That made Pembroke defend with renewed commitment.
A cross shot by Attard was repelled by keeper Roppas while Kooh Sohna was being treated on the sidelines and was eventually substituted.
But Birkirkara failed to add further goals before halftime.
The pattern of the match did not change much in the second half, which had also failed to ignite, as Pembroke’s five-man midfield sat deep and Birkirkara struggled to pick a way through, until substitute Herrera ran through on Sciberras’ pass but hit the side netting.
In the late stages, a Dimitrov shot on Sciberras’ cross, was blocked inside the area but by the time Joseph Zerafa and Edmond Agius made an appearance, the quality had dipped, with passes going astray and punts were hoofed away.
Birkirkara’s second goal took long in coming, exactly on the stroke of full time when the inocuous Gonzalo Malan headed in Herrera’s cross from close range. The goal offered only a rare moment of excitement though.
Standings