Izibet FA Trophy: Birkirkara reach quarter-finals after penalty shoot-out

Birkirkara secured a dramatic qualification to the quarter-finals of the Izibet FA Trophy after defeating Balzan 5-4 on penalties following a 2-2 draw at the end of the ninety minutes and extra-time in a match from the Round of 16 at the National Stadium on Wednesday.

Yannick Yankam put the Stripes ahead on the 14th but Angel Torres equalised on the 68th and nine minutes later, Momcilo Paso converted a penalty to put Balzan 2-1 ahead. However five minutes in added time, Cain Attard levelled matters for Birkirkara to force extra-time but not before Alessandro Coppola was sent off nine minutes in added time. 

Ten minutes in the first half of extra-time, Ivan Bozovic was sent off for Balzan but with no more goals being scored, the penalty shoot-out had to determine the winner.

In the penalty shoot-out, Bogdan Mladenovic scored for Balzan, Yannick Yankam hit high for Birkirkara; Diver Duvan Torres scored for Balzan and Enzo Daniel Cabrera scored; Delvin Chanel Ndinga hit the crossbar for Balzan and Andrei Ciolacu made no mistake to restore equilibrium; Matheus Souza made it 3-2 but Kevin Tulimieri levelled matters; Alex Satariano restored the lead for Balzan and Simon Zibo did the same for Birkirkara.

Momcilo Raso missed for Balzan but Kurt Zammit scored to hand Birkirkara a place in the quarter-finals.

BALZAN Rudy Briffa, Ivan Bozovic, Diver Duvan Torres Quinones, Samr Arab, Marcus Grima (46′ Alex Satariano), Paul Fenech (87′ Zak Grech), Angel Torres (90+2′ Bogdan Mladenovic), Delvin Chanel Ndinga, Momcilo Raso, Aleksa Andrejic, Bojan Kaljevic (86′ Matheus Souza).

B’KARA Giacomo Nava, Osvaldo Iorio (89′ Jean Paul Farrugia)(91′ Neil Micallef), Alex da Paixao Alves (82′ Kevin Tulimieri), Yannick Yankam, Paul Mbong (82′ Jed Valletta)(91′ Matteo Gambin), Kurt Zammit, Cain Attard, Enzo Daniel Cabrera, Simon Zibo, Alessandro Coppola, Denis Custodio Ribeiro (77′ Andrei Ciolacu).

Referee: Matthew De Gabriele
Assistant Referees: Jurgen Spiteri, Mitchell Scerri
Fourth Official: Andrea Sciriha

At the Centenary Stadium, Gzira United defeated Qala Saints 3-0. 

Brooklyn Borg put the maroons ahead on the 37th and one minute in added time, before half-time, Lucas Ribeiro de Oliveira doubled the score. Gabriel Bohrer Mentz converted a penalty on the 75th to seal the issue.

GZIRA David Cassar (84′ Krassmir Zammit), Gabriel Bohrer (84′ Mohamed Alouzi), Luke Tabone, Zachary Scerri, Lucas Ribeiro de Oliveira (79′ Hytem Kabar), Luis Carlos Riascos (46′ Andrew Borg), Toni Kolega (79′ Izaak Ellul), Ewetton Jose Costa Silva, Marko Cosic, Brooklyn Borg, Thiago Espindola.

QALA Franklin Vella (77′ Mattia Zammit), Lawrence Grima, Joseph Buttigieg, Martin Buttigieg, Julian Suzuki Bicudo (52′ Jamie Xerri), Ayesller Carvalho, Shaun Attard, Emanuel Buttigieg, Jordi Parnis, Nathan Chukwudi Njoku, Manwel Xerri (52′ Kurt Mifsud).

Referee: Slawomir Olucha
Assistant Referees: Duncan Spencer, Jareth Grima
Fourth OfficiaL Slobodan Petrovic

On the other hand, Hibernians found no difficulty in defeating Kercem Ajax 8-0 at the Tony Bezzina Stadium.

Jake Grech put the Paolites ahead on the 11th and Jurgen Degabriele doubled the score four minutes later. Ali Diakite made it 3-0 on the 23rd and three minutes from the end of the first half, Thaylor Aldama scored a fourth goal. Nine minutes in the second half, Yunusa Muritala extended the lead with Dunstan Vella scoring the Paolites’ sixth on the 68th. Jake Grech scored his second goal on the 74th and Jairo Morillas Rivero added another six minutes later.  

HIBS Marko Jovicic, Gonzalo Llerena Bravo, Thaylor Aldama (72′ Matthew Ellul), Jake Grech, Jurgen Degabriele (46′ Yunusa Muritala), Dunstan Vella, Zachary Grech, Joao Vitor de Oliveira Florencio (58′ Joseph Zerafa), Andrei Agius (46′ Bjorn Kristensen), Gabriel Izquier Artiles (58′ Jairo Morillas Rivero), Ali Diakite.

KERCEM Daniel Spiteri, Daniel Cassar, Luiz Henrique Santana Motta, Damon Hili, Jason Theuma, Bruno da Cruz, Ognjen Rolovic (72′ Christian Attard), Pablo Vinicius de Moraes Ferreira, Andrew Mizzi, Karl Formosa, Samuel Azzopardi.

Referee: Daniel Casha
Assistant Referees: Shaun Calleja, Vasil Vasilev
Fourth Official: Philip Farrugia

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