by A single goal by Alexis Espitia was enough to separate the two sides on Friday. The win hands Hibernians all three points, but it is still likely that neither side will be happy with their performance in the match.
Team News
Keith Gouder’s injury problems in goalkeeping duty persist for recent signing Zeeyana Jivraj. Jennifer Galea took the role between the posts in her stead. Hibernians started with an unchanged back four from their draw against Mgarr United last week. Kayleigh Chetcuti partnered Nicole Sciberras who took the captain’s armband in the absence of Martina Borg, who is understood to be nursing an injury. Her place in the starting eleven was taken by Nyorah Celeste who started on the left wing, while Sarah Urpani was pushed to the centre attacking midfield role. Alexis Espitia provided the width on the right while Leah Ayres remained in the central attacking role.
Lija Athletic’s Jethron Azzopardi also started with Christiana Pisani, who was protected by the back-four consisting of Mariah Schembri, Sarah Caruana, Amy Gingell and Rachel Mifsud. Captain Simone Buttigieg started in central midfield alongside Nell Zarb Cousin, while Elisa Xuereb and Edera Marmara’ provided the width. In front of them Vanessa Honorio Carneiro supported Katryna Grech who was the furthest forward.
A Poor First Half
As expected, Lija Athletic settled into deep block allowing Hibernians plenty of the ball in midfield, but forcing them to go through a compact defence. Keith Gouder’s side attempted to get the ball toward their front trio but often lacked the accuracy in the final pass. As time ticked by a number of long distance strikes started to surface from Leah Ayres, Kayleigh Chetcuti and Sarah Urpani, but none could trouble Christiana Pisani. The best piece of quality play from Hibernians arrived close to half an hour when Nicole Sciberras made a dart forward and flashed a ball across the six-yard box, but no one attacked it.
On the other hand, Lija Athletic appeared to be focused on defending but initially appeared lethargic to drive forward in attack on the counter. It prompted more than a few shouts from their captain to get the team going. One of the best passages of play saw Elisa Xuereb drive forward on the left wing, before returning the ball back to the central midfield. Nell Zarb Cousin switched play toward Edera Maramara’ but her attempt to find Katryna Grech was blocked by the alert Amy Busuttil.
Seeing his team fail to get any purchase in attack, Keith Gouder began tweaking his side close to the half hour mark. The first swap saw Nyorah Celeste switch to the right wing, while Sarah Urpani took the left. Alexis Espitia was pushed into the number ten role. Celeste produced a piece of quality on the wing to get away from her marker and cross toward Ayres. However, the striker’s shot aimed for the top corner was easily dealt with by Pisani.
A rare ball launched up the field by Lija Athletic, that prompted a collision between Lija’s attack and Hibernians’ defence, gave way to some commotion that sparked some energy into the game on the stroke of half time, mainly in protests toward the referee who appeared unfazed. The final moments saw Lija’s Sarah Caruana deliver a free-kick deep into Hibernians’ penalty box, but Vanessa Honorio Carneiro could not get the touch on the turn and the chance ebbed away.
Half-Time Score: Hibernians 0-0 Lija Athletic
Tactical Tweaks Improve Passage Of Play
Evidently unhappy with the performance, Keith Gouder switched formation at the break, into what appeared to be a 3-5-2, but often the wing-backs pushed up so high that often ended up more like a front four. The change worked with Amy Busuttil slotting in midfield and offering a steady outlet from defense to midfielders Sciberras and Urpani who then drove the attack forward.
The goal arrived on the fiftieth minute when Nyorah Celeste sent a searching ball and Alexis Espitia showed good movement to get the touch at the near post to find the bottom right corner.
The goalscorer was taken off shortly after with Yolande Attard making her first appearance off the bench, who slotted on the wing. Hibernians continued pulling the strings with Kayleigh Chetcuti supporting Leah Ayres in attack. Chetcuti showed good vision to find Ayres a number of times, but the striker could not quite recapture her finishing touch displayed against Mgarr United on the night.
Shakira Bugeja made an appearance off the bench in the sixty-fifth minute, replacing Rachel Mifsud who had taken a whack earlier in the first half. Her appearance prompted some shifts as Jethron Azzopardi attempted to counter Gouder’s system which was rather overloading his defence. The team appeared to switch between a 5-3-2 when out of possession and a 4-3-3 when in possession. It saw Bugeja slot into the centre of midfield alongside Simone Buttigieg and Nell Zarb Cousin, while Katryna Grech was pushed back into a defensive wing position. Edera Marmara’ switched into the centre of attack, while Vanessa Honorio Carneiro occupied the right forward role.
The changes appeared to work well enough to deny Hibernians an opportunity to extend their lead, but there was little created going forward with limited possession. Although Lija Athletic’s first focus may have been to limit damage initially, perhaps the way things unfolded presented an opportunity for a point but it needed sharper going forward.
Hibernians’ Keith Gouder made a last throw of the dice by replacing Sarah Urpani by Federica Zahra in a like for like change. Nyorah Celeste also gave way to Demi Gauci Maistre who took the left wing role, while Yolande Attard shifted to the right. Despite attempting to finish strong, a final long-distance strike by Kayleigh Chetcuti did not dip enough to trouble Pisani, ending the match 1-0.
Next Matches
Following this narrow victory, Hibernians will have work to do during the week as they will next face Swieqi United on Saturday 16th September at Dingli Ground (20:30). Lija Athletic will take on Valletta on Friday 15th September at the Victor Tedesco Stadium (20:30).
However, there is still plenty of action before that. The Assikura Women’s League will continue today as Valletta will take on Mgarr United at 18:00 at Mgarr Ground. It will be followed by another match at 20:30 between San Gwann and Swieqi United, with the latter returning to action following a week absence.
The match between Mgarr United and Valletta will surely clash with Birkirkara’s encounter against Swiss giants FC Zurich at the Centenary Stadium, with the latter two fighting for a place in round two of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. This besides the match overrunning into the schedule of the second encounter between San Gwann & Swieqi United, should it go into extra time. In light of this one questions the oversight in the fixturing schedules, when considering that league matches are generally postponed on Champions League nights.
Lead Image: Chiara Faedo
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