Birkirkara defeat Zebbug in friendly match

by Ayrton Galea - 7th September 2014

Birkirkara FC defeated Zebbug Rangers FC with a 4-1 score in a friendly match played at the Sirens Stadium yesterday evening, thanks to goals by Eliandro Gonzaga, Rafael Ledesma, Nikola Vukanac and Kurt Zammit.

With the BOV Premier League having a break due to the National Teams commitments, the match served as a good opportunity for the foreigners of the squad to keep their match fitness, while giving the promising youngsters time to play with the senior team.

In fact, the starting-eleven selection featured goalkeeper Justin Tonna, Andrea Curmi, Antoine Borg and Jonathan Licari while in the second half, Kurt Zammit, Dylan Aquilina, Shawn Deguara and goalkeeper Allisther Micallef all were included as substitutes.

The Club's latest signing, Vyacheslav Shevchenko was included as a substitute in the second half, and he left a good impression.

The First Half

Zebbug could have surged ahead after just one minute. Their latest signing, Bojan Mamic, collected a pass from the middle of the field and raced forward, but his low strike was blocked by goalkeeper Justin Tonna.

Birkirkara replied two minutes later, when they created their first scoring opportunity. Antoine Borg delivered a fine second-post cross which saw Ellinton Morais heading wide by inches.

Morais and Rafael Ledesma combined well on the eighth minute with the latter trying his luck with a long-distance lob that ended over, with the Zebbug goalkeeper out of his position. Ledesma was involved in action on the fifteenth minute when his strike was turned into a corner kick after being served by Eliandro Gonzaga.

Birkirkara were denied from surging ahead on the eighteenth minute when Ledesma served an intelligent through-ball in the direction of Morais who raced forward but saw his lob hitting the crossbar. From the rebound, Gonzaga had his strike turned into a corner kick.

Zebbug replied four minutes later with a header ending wide from a corner kick, and close to the half-hour mark, Birkirkara went close once again. Antoine Borg supplied an excellent through-ball to Gonzaga, and the goalkeeper rushed out and failed to catch, but Gonzaga saw his diagonal strike ending wide.

Birkirkara broke the deadlock on the thirty-second minute. Jonathan Licari played-in Eliandro Gonzaga, who had his powerful strike from inside the box hitting hard past the Zebbug goalkeeper to put Birkirkara in the lead.

Neither side managed to create any other scoring opportunity, and the first half ended with Birkirkara in the lead thanks to Gonzaga's strike.

The Second Half

Club's latest signing, Vyacheslav Shevchenko made his debut with the Stripes in the second-half as he was one of the two substitutes included, and he replaced Eliandro Gonzaga, while Dylan Aquilina replaced Jonathan Licari.

Zebbug leveled matters ten minutes into the second half, following an aggressive start to the second half. Mathias Mucchardi delivered a threatening free-kick inside the box with Bojan Mamic heading past goalkeeper Justin Tonna.

Just two minutes later, Zebbug almost went into the lead, but Justin Tonna, aided by the crossbar, turned a powerful shot into a corner kick.

Birkirkara regained the lead on the sixty-third minute, when Ellinton Morais showed great dribbling skills and he was fouled inside the box. After consulting with the assistant referee, the referee ordered the penalty and from the eleven-metre spot, Rafael Ledesma converted.

Twenty minutes into the second half, Kurt Zammit and Shawn Deguara were included in the match to replace Rafael Ledesma and Leighton Grech. For Deguara, this was his first appearance with the Senior Team.

Birkirkara made them three on the sixty-seventh minute. Ellinton Morais delivered an excellent free-kick which saw Nikola Vukanac rising high to hit a powerful directed header which beat the Zebbug Rangers goalkeeper.

Three became four on the seventy-fifth minute. Second half substitute, Shawn Deguara combined well with Antoine Borg, with the latter having his cross not held by the Zebbug goalkeeper. Kurt Zammit then had a routine task of putting the ball inside an empty net.

Russell Gatt De Raffaele, another important asset in last year's Under-19's Team replaced Ellinton Morais fourteen minutes from time.Two minutes from time, goalkeeper Allisther Micallef also made his first appearance with the Senior Team when he replaced Justin Tonna.

The result remained unchanged and the referee's full time whistle found Birkirkara emerging as winners with a 4-1 score.

Birkirkara FC: Justin Tonna (88' Allisther Micallef), Alejandro Mendoza, Matheus Bissi, Nikola Vukanac, Antoine Borg, Jonathan Licari (45' Dylan Aquilina), Andrea Curmi, Rafael Ledesma (65' Kurt Zammit), Leighton Grech (65' Shawn Deguara), Eliandro Gonzaga (45' Vyacheslav Shevchenko), Ellinton Morais (76' Russell Gatt De Raffaele)

Scorers: 32' Eliandro Gonzaga, 63' Rafael Ledesma, 68' Nikola Vukanac, 75' Kurt Zammit.

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