Nine-man Msida add to Hibernians' woes

Msida SJ 1
Hibernians 1

Hibs' spell of misfortune shows no signs of abating.

Desperate to end a depressing run of three defeats, they had good reason to think that the tide had finally turned in their favour when Msida, their opponents yesterday, had two players dismissed in the space of five minutes early in the second half.

Leading 1-0 thanks to a scorching free-kick by Andrew Cohen just before the break, the Paolites were widely tipped to capitalise on their numerical bonus by coasting to an emphatic victory but much to the surprise of everyone, this did not materialise.

A combination of wasteful Hibs' finishing and an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Omar Borg, reprieved Msida who proceeded to achieve the unthinkable by grabbing an equaliser eight minutes from the time.

The game ended 1-1, giving the two teams their first point since the start of the Championship Pool but that was of no consolation to Hibs who spurned an opportunity to reduce the gap on third-placed Marsaxlokk, never mind resuscitating their faltering title hopes.

With midfielder Peter Pullicino joining Hibs' growing list of the walking wounded, coach Robert Gatt indulged in some positional tinkering.

Aaron Xuereb regained his usual starting berth at centre-half. Sweeping duties were assigned to Ryan Mintoff as David Camilleri had instructions to fill the void left by Pullicino in the centre of midfield.

Cohen may have given Hibs the early fillip they craved for after six minutes but his rising shot sailed just wide of the near post.

Nigerian Essien Mbong also threatened to open the scoring with a dipping volley which missed the intended target by a whisker.

The game flowed mainly in the direction of Borg in the first 15 minutes. Haruna Doda used his body strength to shield the ball from the attendant Msida defenders inside the box before laying it backward to Mbong whose first-time screamer was deflected away for a corner.

Such was Hibs' territorial supremacy in those initial stages that Msida seldom ventured outside their own half. Their midfield was yesterday shorn of Paul Fenech, suspended. Ousseni Zongo was also a conspicuous absentee for Msida because of injury.

Hibs should really have nudged themselves in front on the half hour when Clayton Failla's floating cross from the left reached Cohen unmarked at the far post but the latter's header from routine distance brought an excellent save from Borg.

It was on 40 minutes when Msida finally mustered a glimmer of a scoring chance.

Ibrahim Babatunde played a throughball to Daniel Nwoke who swivelled before striking the ball from a somewhat tight angle but Mintoff was close enough to repel his attempt.

Hibs' hegemony finally created a tangible reward on the stroke of half-time. Theuma conceded a free-kick when tripping Cohen close to the edge of Msida's penalty area. The next thing the ball was nestling in the far corner of Borg's goal as a result of Cohen's exquisite execution.

Msida had been outclassed by Hibs in the opening 45 minutes but they began the second half more assertively. After eight minutes, Muscat had to come out of goal to divert the ball away from Babatunde. The ensuing corner, taken by Dino Cachia, sailed towards Babatunde at the far post but the Nigerian guided his header wide.

Msida's growing belief in their ability to trouble Hibs suffered a double blow in the space of five minutes.

First, defender Mark Pullicino was expelled after he received a second booking for a handling offence. Then Josef Mifsud was shown a straight red card for what looked like a scathing tackle on Failla.

One goal up and with two men more, Hibs were now expected to put their weakened opponents to bed.

On 66 minutes, Cohen glided into the box with typical panache and flicked the ball towards the unchallenged Julian Vella but the Hibs youngster fluffed his effort.

Camilleri fired a shot wide of the post following a flowing move between Cohen and Doda. The Paolites persisted in roaring forward in search of a reassuring second goal. Cohen came close with another twisting free-kick but Borg was equal to the task.

It was backs-to-the-wall stuff for Msida from the moment they were reduced to ten players and then nine, but eight minutes from time, they grasped an equaliser against the run of play.

Lydon Micallef chanced a free-kick in the heart of Hibs' box where Nwoke pounced on his opposing defenders' laxity to poke the loose ball past Muscat. No wonder Gatt, the Hibs coach, shook his head in disbelief as the Msida players celebrated their goal.

Within minutes of Msida's goal, Borg was called to make another difficult save from a cross-shot by substitute Roderick Baldacchino.

One minute from time, Pulis's downward header from close range bounced off the ground and over the crossbar and at the other end, Babatunde could have killed off Hibs when he sped clear of two defenders but his shot lacked precision.

Msida: O. Borg-8, D. Theuma-7, J. Mifsud, M. Pullicino, T. Farrugia-6.5, C. Sciberras-6, D. Cachia-6, M. Valencia-5 ('53 D. Gatt-5.5), L. Micallef-6, I. Babatunde-6, D. Nwoke-6 ('86 S. Grima).

Hibs: M. Muscat-6, A. Pulis-6.5, A. Xuereb-6.5, R. Mintoff-6, E. Mbong-6.5, A. Cohen-8, C. Failla-7 ('67 R. Baldacchino-6), J. Vella-5.5, E. Agius-6, D. Camilleri-6.5, H. Doda-7.

Referee: Paul Caruana.

Scorers: Cohen 45; Nwoke 82.

Yellow Cards: Pullicino, Agius, Micallef, Mbong.

Red Cards: Pullicino 56; Mifsud 61.

BoV Player of the Match: Andrew Cohen (Hibernians).