Five-star Birkirkara demolish Mosta
by Ayrton Galea - 28th February 2014
Birkirkara FC turned on the heat on Wednesday evening, when in a lesson of attacking football they demolished Mosta with a comfortable 4-0 score.
Just three days after making an excellent comeback against Balzan, the Stripes demolished Mosta in a one-sided match. Birkirkara were dominant throughout the ninety minutes, to register their second win in the Championship Pool.
Dominant right from the start, the Champions took an early lead by Joseph Zerafa and Jhonnattann Benites added another goal ten minutes from half-time. The Brazilian player made them three after just ten minutes inside the second half before Nikola Vukanac sealed the issue ten minutes from time.
Mr. Paul Zammit, the Birkirkara Head Coach, kept trust in the 3-5-2 formation but the unavailability of selection of Gareth Sciberras necessitated that the Birkirkara Coach to make some positional switches.
Ronaille Calheira joined Jhonnattann Benites in the forward line, while Nigerian Shola Shodiya was deployed to the midfield department continually supporting the Birkirkara forwards. Rowen Muscat, was once again unavailable for this match.
On the other hand, the Mosta mentor, Mr. Enrico Piccioni made only one change from the win over Hibernians. defender Rodriguez Ekani took the place of midfielder Kurt Zammit, who was among the substitutes. The Mosta coach favoured a straight forward 4-4-2 module with Gian Marco Piccioni and Bojan Kaljevic leading their attack.
The First Half
The Stripes had a powerful start and they were quick to assure possession, with Mosta struggling to keep the pace inside the opening minutes.
When the match was just three minutes old, Jhonnattann Benites delivered a free-kick which took a slight deflection in front of the Mosta goalkeeper but Omar Borg palmed away the effort into a corner kick.
Birkirkara who went out with all guns blazing, managed to put their noses ahead on the eleventh minutes, as Mosta failed to match the Stripes' early aggressive start. Shola Shodiya accurately served Joseph Zerafa who raced forward and hit a brilliant strike into the top corner.
With the Blues having been swept off their feet by Birkirkara's total superiority, they lacked inspiration to produce any sort of reaction and it was the Stripes who threatened to double the score.
The Stripes were creating countless problems on the flanks to the shaky Mosta rearguard. Paul Fenech continued to torment them on the twentieth minute, with an excellent run on the left flank, before sending a cross-shot but Edward Herrera, in front of Borg, failed to hit.
Mid-way through the first half, Mosta had their first attempt on target when Bojan Kaljevic took possession from a short pass at the back, but the Mosta forward had his shot from inside the box hitting the side netting.
Mosta survived a scare on the thirty-third minute. Jhonnattann Benites delivered a brilliant corner and Shodiya rose high to direct a bullet-header but the Nigerian forward was denied by the crossbar.
Fully aware of Mosta's difficult moment, their Coach Piccioni tweaked his formation as he brought on Kurt Zammit for Ishmael Grech, in a bid to shore up the midfield.
Ten minutes from half time, the Stripes doubled the score. Edward Herrera served Jhonnattann Benites, who showed great skills to drift past his marker before having his excellent strike hitting home after having the better of goalkeeper Borg.
Stunned and unable to match Birkirkara's high-flying performance, goalkeeper Omar Borg was the protagonist to avoid more woes for Mosta. He showed fine reflexes to first beat away Jhonnattann Benites' grounder, and then reacted quickly to stretch his legs and deny Ronaille Calheira a clear shot on goal.
Referee Paul Caruana's half-time whistle found Birkirkara heading to their dressing room with a deserved applause from their supporters who certainly could not ask for more from their lads.
The Second Half
The half-time interval did not dampen Birkirkara's momentum, as they were quick to regain total superiority and three minutes inside the second half, they threatened to increase their lead to three.
Jhonnattann Benites penetrated by playing to Edward Herrera, who had his fierce strike beating goalkeeper Omar Borg but denied by Tyrone Farrugia who turned the ball into a corner kick.
Birkirkara continued to tear Mosta apart and just two minutes later, Benites should have made them three. The speed on Birkirkara's counter-attacks was tormenting Mosta. In one of their devastating breakaways, Ronaille Calheira served Benites who hit wide from close range.
Have been outclassed for nearly an hour, there was little hope in the Blues clan that they could have somehow salvage something from this match, and their hopes took the their final blow ten minutes in the second half when the Stripes scored their third goal.
Edward Herrera's through-pass found Jhonnattann on the run. Omar Borg rushed out and failed to connect, to leave Jhonnattann Benits with the routine task of slotting the ball into an empty net, for his second personal goal on the day.
Three goals up, and with the precious points in the bag, Mr. Paul Zammit utilised his first substitution when he brought on Ryan Camenzuli for Joseph Zerafa.
Confidence sky high, the Stripes were not done yet as they continued to push forward. Twenty minutes into the second half, Edward Herrera had an excellent surging run before sending a cross to Ronaille Calheira, who had a flying-header going slightly over the crossbar.
Just two minutes later, the Stripes were denied from the fourth goal when Paul Fenech set up substitute Ryan Camenzuli, who had a volley from inside the box hitting the post.
In Birkirkara's second substitution, Daniel Zerafa replaced Ryan Scicluna on the seventy-third minute.
The Stripes continued to show no mercy to Mosta, and they sealed the issue ten minutes from time. From free-kick by Shola Shodiya, Nikola Vukanac hit home from close-range after beating goalkeeper Omar Borg.
With the Birkirkara's faithful still celebrating the fourth goal, Jhonnattann Benites received a standing ovation when he was replaced by Frank Temile.
Birkirkara controlled possession in the dying minutes of the match, till referee Paul Caruana brought to an end Birkirkara's excellent display with his final-whistle, which found the Champions maintaining their three-point lead over nearest rivals, Valletta.
BIRKIRKARA: Justin Haber, Zach Muscat, Nikola Vukanac, Joseph Zerafa (61' Ryan Camenzuli), Shola Shodiya (80' Frank Temile), Alejandro Mendoza, Jhonnattann Benites, Paul Fenech, Edward Herrera, Ronaille Calheira, Ryan Scicluna (74' Daniel Zerafa).
MOSTA: Omar Borg, Tyrone Farrugia, Mark Brincat, Manolito Micallef, Antonio Carrozza, Jonas Rodriguez Ekani, Ryan Grech (75′ Ricardo Silva Faria), Gianmarco Piccioni (65′ Diego Pereira), Bojan Kaljevic, Ishmael Grech (35′ Kurt Zammit), Ian Zammit.
Referee: Paul Caruana.
Assistant Referees: Edward Spiteri, Luke Portelli.
Fourth Official: Malcolm Spiteri.
Yellow Cards: 4' Ryan Scicluna, 16' Justin Haber, 59' Edward Herrera, 64' Zach Muscat (Birkirkara), 79' Antonio Carozza (Mosta).
Scorers: 11' Joseph Zerafa, 35' Jhonnattann Benites, 56' Jhonnattann Benites, 80' Nikola Vukanac (Birkirkara).
BOV Player of the Match: Jhonnattann Benites (Birkirkara).
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