Day 28 Valletta 1 Hibs 0
05/04/2017
Valletta pulled off a last-gasp victory over Hibernians with a goalmouth scramble in the injury time, and threw the title issue wide open once again.
Valletta’s resolve to take maximum points was in abundant evidence in the opening minutes when within eight minutes of referee Fyodor Zammit’s initial whistle, Hibs’ defence had to deal with a potentially menacing Valletta attack. Mifsud darted past the defence from the blindside, evaded Dejan Boljevic but hit just wide of Andrew Hogg’s far post.
Spurred on by their bright start, Valletta continued to show the better ideas with their hard-running players bossing midfield. On 18 minutes, Valletta had loud appeals for penalty waved away after Mifsud’s cross came off Andrei Agius’s hands.
Spurred on by their bright start, Valletta continued to show the better ideas with their hard-running players bossing midfield. On 18 minutes, Valletta had loud appeals for penalty waved away after Mifsud’s cross came off Andrei Agius’s hands.
When the game resumed after the half-time break, Hibernians showed greater intent. Subdued in the first half, Dias strode forward on the right flank, his cross swerved dangerously across the face of goal as Steve Borg cleared the danger before Degabriele could make any contact with the ball.
Hogg came to Hibs’ rescue on 70 minutes when he effected an excellent flying save to keep out Leonardo Aguirre’s goalbound effort.
On the other side, Gilmar hit agonisingly over after a silky build-up. It looked like the day that had started with such anticipation and expectation was going to end in despair, then came the finale when Valletta were awarded a free-kick on the right flank.
Claudio Pani’s set-piece cross was headed goalwards by Montebello as Jonathan Caruana’s effort struck Agius’s arm but the referee played the advantage and Steve Borg applied the final touch.
In stoppage time, he marred his performance when he was shown the red card for a second bookable offence but this little mattered as few moments later the boisterous Valletta fans erupted in joy at the final whistle.
Source – timesofmalta.com
VALLETTA – D. Barktus, S. Malano (L. Montebello), S. Borg, U. Calistus (R. Briffa), J. Borg, C. Pani, J. Caruana, V. Alhino, L. Aguirre, M. Mifsud, M. Velasco(L. Cfemona).
HIBS – A. Hogg, D. Boljevic, J. Lima, B. Kristensen, A. Agius, M. Dias, R. Soares, J. Bezzina, G. Ribeiro, J. Da Silva Pereira, M. Moore.
Scorers: 90′ S. Borg (V)
Yellow Cards: U. Calistus, S. Borg, C. Pani (V), A. Hogg, J. Lima (H)
Red Cards: S. Borg (V)
Man of Match: M. Mifsud (V)
Referee: F. Zammit
