Dramatic own goal lands ten-man Tarxien in semi final
Tarxien Rainbows had to exhibit all their resilience to survive a very tough quarter final tie against Balzan, that went into extra time.
The Rainbows came back from behind, courtesy of an own goal by their defender Ebaboweis Baker in the first half, to equalise through a Triston Caruana penalty early after the restart.
Caruana was sent off on 76 minutes but, down to ten men, defensive Tarxien refused to buckle and were rewarded five minutes from the end of extra time when Balzan defender Samir Arab committed a dramatic own goal.
They could have gone in front early. On five minutes, a Ponce corner from the right cut the entire Balzan defence but Baker, standing at the far post, put his close header wide.
But after that they did not test the Balzan keeper properly. On the half hour, a Nilsson low drive was easily saved by Janjusevic.
On 12 minutes, Micallef had the first chance to give Balzan the lead. He ran in for Kaljevic’s low cross from the byeline, only to see keeper Cassar block his shot on the ground.
Midway through the half, Balzan were awarded a direct free kick from a promising position on the edge of the Tarxien area. Souza though kicked it high and wide.
Looking better, Balzan broke the deadlock two minutes before the break. Bojan Kaljevic cut inside the Tarxien area from the right, his low cross was deflected by Tarxien defender Baker inside his own goal, when pressed by Micallef. This was the first time Tarxien conceded in the competition after clean sheets against Gharghur and Lija Athletic in the previous rounds.
The second half began with Balzan continuing to look the hungrier, but they were let down by conceding a penalty after only five minutes play when Serrano felled Nilsson just inside the Balzan area. Triston Caruana scored with a powerful low shot.
Balzan looked to have lost their early momentum and took some time to settle back into the match. Coach Oliver Spiteri replaced Souza with Matteo Piciollo and shortly after introduced Alfred Effiong to show his offensive intentions.
But, on 71 minutes, Balzan were thrown into panic at the back as Ponce whipped a long ball wide on the right for Alves to hit across the face of the Balzan goal but Ponce could only manage a tame effort. Balzan survived but were patently unnerved. Paul Fenech showed up with a shot from a distance that went over.
On the other end, Ponce’s shot on the turn also finished over the bar.
It was still anybody’s game until Triston Caruana was sent off on 76 minutes for a second booking and Tarxien were down to ten men.
But, disappointingly, Balzan failed to capitalise on their numerical superiority and rarely ever threatened the Tarxien goal again for the rest of normal time.
Holding more to possession in extra time, Balzan were only allowed a couple of shots from some distance but efforts from Piciollo, Nafti and Paul Fenech failed to beat the alert Cassar in the Tarxien goal.
The game looked heading towards a penalty shoot-out until five minutes from the end. Nilsson sent a low cross from the right and as Samir Arab tried to clear, the ball looped over his outstretched leg right into the top corner of his own goal.