Malta round-up: Birkirkara held

Struggling Maltese Premier League side Pietà Hotspurs FC held title challengers Birkirkara FC to a 1-1 draw on Sunday, while Naxxar Lions FC beat Marsa FC 2-0 in the day's other game.

Tremendous form
Following the 3-1 defeat by champions Valletta FC last time out, Birkirkara hoped to get back to winning ways against Pietà but found visiting goalkeeper Saviour Mifsud in tremendous form.

Penalty saved
It looked good for Birkirkara when Michael Galea scored his eighth goal of the season with a tremendous header after 17 minutes. Malcolm Licar wasted a glorious opportunity to restore parity just before the interval when goalkeeper Reuben Debono saved his penalty kick with ease.

Suda on target
Pietà showed tremendous character to survive that miss and the dismissal of defender Pierre Aquilina seven minutes into the second half to salvage a point. Striker Carmel Formosa was the man on target, capitalising on a defensive mistake by Kenneth Scicluna to make it 1-1 thirteen minutes from time. The point lifts Pietà off the foot of the table.

Metiodev's debut
The match marked Metodi Metiodev's official debut for Pietà. He links up with Welshman Paul Seaman and Swede Patrick Pupparo as the club's third foreign player. The new Bulgarian recruit could only join the club after Jamie Pace was awarded dual citizenship status.

Second-half goals
Naxaar moved level on nine points with Marsa after second-half goals from Nicky Fasanelli (73) and Daniel Bogdanovich (88) fired them to a 2-0 win. Marsa, however, could restore their three-point advantage over Naxaar if they win their game in hand.