Birkirkara returned to winning ways as they scored twice in the second half to beat St. Andrews 2-0 at the Victor Tedesco Stadium on Saturday. A win which enables them to leapfrog Balzan and now lie on the 33-point mark.
For St. Andrews, who had goalkeeper Elmaddin Mammadov making his debut, this was the fifth defeat in seven matches. They are now fourth from bottom, just one point ahead of Senglea and one behind Tarxien.
Birkirkara took the lead on the 50th minute thanks to Luke Montebello whose diagonal shot from the right, after a defender failed the clear a cross from the left, beat Elmaddin Mammadov.
Three minutes from time, the Stripes doubled the score thanks to Michael Mifsud whose low shot, when served by Thiago Brito from the right beat the St. Andrews goalkeeper.
B’KARA Kristijan Naumovski, Maurizio Vella (75′ Thiago Brito de Souza), Luke Montebello (85′ Abdulrahman Alsherooqi), Johann Bezzina, Kurt Zammit, Eduardo Ferreira dos Santos, Nikola Vukanac, Michael Mifsud, Cain Attard, Terence Agius, Marcelo de Siqueira (78′ Clayton Failla).
Subs not used: Amara Sylla, Gianluca Bugeja, Carlo Zammit Lonardelli, Paul Mbong.
Coach: Mark Buttigieg
Asst. Coach: John Arne RiiseST. ANDREWS Elmaddin Mammadov, Alex Satariano (67′ Aidan Friggieri), Ricardo Martin, Travis Blagrove, Kemar Reid, Joseph Farrugia, Kurt Magro, Adrian Borg, Martin Davis, Kemmu Degran Jackson, Matthew Woo Ling (85′ Luke Sciberras).
Subs not used: Matthew Calleja Cremona, Adam Magri Overend, Jordan Kelly, Sean Ellul, Samuel Barthet, Luke Sciberras.
Coach: Johann SciclunaReferee: Darryl Agius
Assistant Referees: Duncan Sultana, Duncan Spencer
Fourth Official: Fyodor Zammit
Yellow Cards: Vella, Satariano, Mammadov, Jackson, Farrugia
BOV Player of the Match: Luke Montebello