FLORIANA        0

 

BIRKIRKARA    1

Falcone 79

Birkirkara punctured Floriana’s aura of invicibility as the Stripes handed the Premier League leaders their first defeat of the season at the National Stadium yesterday.

The Greens, who had the opportunity to increase their gap at the top following Valletta’s half-slip against Sta Lucia on Saturday, were on the end of a major shock as a 79th-minute goal from Federico Falcone ended their 14-match unbeaten sequence.

Birkirkara may count themselves lucky to have managed a clean sheet after Floriana were denied by the woodwork three times. But they showed remarkable improvement after the break and their ascendancy was rewarded with that late winner that lifted them to seventh place on 19 points.

Birkirkara took the ground running and it had to be a fine stop from goalkeeper Ini Akpan to deny Falcone early on.

Floriana hit back strongly and were denied by the woodwork twice. First it was Diego Venancio to see his effort bounce off the upright and then Brandon Paiber hit a thumping shot that came off the post.

Venancio was the central cog in Floriana’s midfield machine with the nippy Kristian Keqi providing the main spark with frequent raids on the left flank.

At the other end, Birkirkara’s dense midfield was manned by Roderick Briffa and Yannick Yankam but their attack depended on the incursions of Isaac Ntow and Cain Attard on the flanks.

However, the rhythm in the early exchanges was very slow with neither side showing enough flair and bite to create any danger.

Birkirkara again were first in action after the change of ends. Kurt Zammit carved an opening for Ntow but Akpan produced a fine save on the Ghanaian defender.

On 55 minutes, Enzo Ruiz was alert enough to deny Ntow again with Akpan beaten. Floriana were too busy doing covering work, and as a consequence their threat up front fizzled out.

This was the cue for Vincenzo Potenza to put in Jan Busuttil into the fray.

On 71 minutes, the former Pietà midfielder was served on the right and picked up sudden acceleration, went on a mazy run past a couple of opponents before a delivering an excellent play for Keqi. The Albanian striker, however, hit straight at Hogg.

Shortly afterwards the striker, tossed another great chance, when hitting high from six-metres after receiving from Tiago Fonesca.

With the clock weighing down, it had to be Falcone’s flair to settle the tie on 79 minutes. The striker received the ball from Yankam on the edge of the box and his firm shot was enough to stun Akpan for a brilliant goal.

The match drew to an exciting finish as Floriana struck the woodwork for a third time when Venancio was the provider as his perfect cross from the left soared towards the centre of the penalty area where Keqi flew into the air to direct a header past Hogg but the ball crashed against the bar.

Three minutes later, the Birkirkara goalkeeper made a brilliant one-hand save to deny Busuttil as the Stripes held on to inflict a first defeat on leaders Floriana.