BOV Premier League - Birkirkara FC 0-0 Floriana FC
by Ayrton Galea - 10th February 2019
Birkirkara FC's aspirations to finish in the top-four of the BOV Premier League received another setback, when on Sunday afternoon, they shared the spoils in a drab goal-less draw against Floriana FC.
The Stripes failed to recover from last week's defeat, as their performance has not been up to the expectations following a very intensive activity in the January Transfer Market. For the Stripes, this was the third out of the last four league matches that failed to find the net.
Club's Sporting Director, John Arne Riise made five changes from last week's defeat as Andrew Hogg, Clayton Failla, Luke Montebello, Marcello Henrique and Nikola Vukanac replaced Kristijan Naumovski, Kurt Zammit, Jorge Pereira, Michael Mifsud and the suspended Danilo Chapoval.
The First Half
Floriana made their intentions clear to notice and they could have taken the lead in their first scoring opportunity after six minutes. Edward Herrera served Lucas Vieira Da Silva inside the box, but the latter hit wide with only goalkeeper Andrew Hogg to beat.
Birkirkara failed to settle. They lacked the desired movement and struggled to keep possession. Their first shot on goal arrived on the twenty-first minute, when Marcelo Henrique tried his luck with a shot from distance, but his weak shot ended wide.
Floriana remained the better side. Their quick transition was tormenting the Stripes, and in one of these situations, they should have taken the lead, when off a low cross by Herrera, Lucas' shot was blocked by Hogg.
The Greens were unlucky to surge ahead on the thirty-fourth minute. Arthur Oyama's sent an excellent cross inside the box and Enzo Ruiz was first to meet the ball, but his powerful header was denied by the crossbar.
Just before the half-time whistle, Cain Attard's erratic back pass almost gifted Floriana the opening goal of the match, but Da Silva's shot was well saved by Hogg.
The Second Half
Sporting Director John Riise, who evidently looked unhappy with the team's performance in the first half, tried to shake things up for the second fourty-five minutes as he made a double change, as he introduced Jorge Pereira and Thiago Brito instead of Luke Montebello and Maurizio Vella.
The Stripes showed signs of improvement and they were almost rewarded for their efforts just past the hour mark. Guillaumier sent an accurate cross inside the box and substitute Pereira's first-time effort was blocked by goalkeeper Akpan.
Birkirkara continued to dictate matters as they piled-up the pressure on the Greens. Marcelo Henrique stole possession in a good area and raced forward before serving Pereira, but the latter took too long to conclude and his weak shot was blocked by a defender.
Mislav Andelkovic tried his luck with a shot from outside the box that was saved by Akpan, while late in the match, substitute Terence Agius' shot ended totally over as the Stripes dropped two points and had to settle for a goal-less draw.
Floriana's Brandon Diego Paiber was voted the BOV Player of the Match.
BIRKIRKARA: Andrew Hogg, Matthew Guillaumier, Mislav Andelkovic, Maurizio Vella (46' Thiago Brito), Luke Montebello (46' Jorge Pereira), Johann Bezzina (76' Terence Agius), Clayton Failla, Eduardo Dos Santos, Nikola Vukanac, Cain Attard, Marcelo Henrique.
FLORIANA: Ini Akpan, Enzo Ruiz, Brandon Diego Paiber, Jurgen Pisani, Alexander Cini, Jose Arias (87' Daniel Agius) Arthur Henrique Oyama, Edward Herrera (73' Kristian Keqi), Ezequiel Cesani, Emerson Marcellina, Lucas Vieira Da Silva (77' Terence Vella).
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann.
Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Thomas Debono.
Fourth Official: Emanuel Grech.
Yellow Cards: 34' Maurizio Vella, 69' Nikola Vukanac, 90+1' Marcelo Henrique (Birkirkara).
Scorers: None.
BOV Player of the Match: Brandon Diego Paiber (Floriana).
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