Late Caruana strike lifts Paolites to the top

Pietà 1
Hibernians 2

Hibernians went on top of the Premier League standings after snatching victory in the dying seconds of the match against Pietà Hotspurs with an opportunistic strike by substitute Thomas Caruana.

The Hotspurs seemed to be heading for only the second draw of the campaign in the most unlikely of circumstances as they played the last 15 minutes of the match with nine players following the dismissal of Digger Okonkwo and Claudio Calleja.

Things have not been rosy for the resilient Hotspurs this season and a solitary point from their first four outings was hardly anything to brag about for Italian coach Davide Vittorio.

With only one goal to their credit and a staggering 14 conceded, Pietà have fast earned a reputation as one of the prime contenders for relegation come next May.

Just before kick-off, the bout of bad luck that has struck the Blues this season continued as Angelo Tasca, named in the starting formation, had to be substituted by Edward Herrera, after picking up an injury in the final warm-up.

Battling the odds, Pietà were relieved to storm into the lead early in the first half through Daniel Theuma.

With the minutes ticking away, Hibernians became increasingly frustrated as they failed to break down the organised Pietà defence, well marshalled by Chris Okoh and Bernard Sciberras.

On their part, Hibernians were gunning for their fourth consecutive victory following their opening day defeat to Floriana.

Coach Robert Gatt must have warned his players against complacency but little did he expect such a stout resistance from the Hotspurs.

The Paolites only managed to equalise on 66 minutes through a penalty and nicked maximum spoils on the stroke of time through substitute Caruana who beat Hogg with virtually the last kick of the game.

The clocked marked 16 minutes when Pietà took a surprise lead. Okoh's shot was deflected into the path of Theuma and the veteran displayed remarkable reflex action as he smacked a powerful shot that Muscat only partially touched the ball as his frantic effort to prevent it from spilling over the goalline proved to be in vain.

Hibs could have levelled the score on the stroke of half time. Cohen slipped a free-kick towards Chuk-unyere who powered his way inside the area and unleashed a wicked shot that sailed wide.

At the start of the second half, Gatt gave the nod to Matthew Bartolo to replace Clayton Failla in a bid to add more creativity in midfield.

On 53 minutes, Cohen's free-kick found Scerri whose header finished wide.

Two minutes later, only a fine save from the alert Muscat prevented the Hotspurs from doubling their tally as Martin Deanov's drive was fisted into a corner by the Hibernians custodian.

A rare defensive blunder by Okoh nearly led to the equaliser as the sturdy defender mistimed his clearance and Scerri pounced on the chance with his effort deviated into an corner.

Midway through the second half, Pietà were left to rue a mistimed tackle from Okonkwo in the penalty area on the surging Scerri. The referee was quick to race towards the penalty spot and dismissed the Pietà player.

Cohen made no mistake from the spot as he nailed the ball into the net to draw his side level.

Okonkwo's expulsion meant that Theuma had to abandon his attacking post and retreat to central defence in a bid to contain Hibs' pressure.

With the Paolites surging forward in search of a winner, things became even more complicated for Pietà as Calleja received marching orders for a second bookable offence after a clash with Xuereb.

Seven minutes from time, Cohen tried to surprise Hogg with a dipping free-kick which the Pieta goalkeeper did well to tip over the woodwork.

The Hotspurs evaded further punishment from the referee as Hogg clearly handled the ball outside the area but escaped with a caution.

The Pietà custodian was stretched to his limits in the final minutes of the game as he was constantly on guard to neutralise a number of menacing crosses from both flanks as Hibs laid siege on the Blues' fort in a bid to find the winner.

As referee Marco Borg was about to signal the end of the contest, Hibernians snatched the winner as Chukunyere slid the ball past a maze of players only for the effort to rebound off the post and substitute Caruana had a relatively easy task planting the ball into net.

The anguish proved too much for Theuma who earned a second yellow card for protests and was sent off prior to the final whistle.

Pietà: A. Hogg-7, D. Okonkwo, C. Okoh 7, B. Sciberras-7, E. Herrera-6.5, M. Deanov-6.5 ('76 A. Debono), C. Calleja, C. Camilleri-6, S. Kondev-6.5, D. Mifsud-6 ('90 R. Camilleri), D. Theuma.

Hibernians: M. Muscat-7, K. Cassar-6.5, R. Briffa-6.5 ('76 T. Caruana), A. Xuereb-7, P. Doffo-6.5, E. Agius-6.5 ('83 A. Zahra), U. Nwoko-6, N. Chukunyere-6.5, T. Scerri-7, A. Cohen-7.5, C. Failla-6.5 ('46 M. Bartolo-6.5).

Referee: M. Borg.

Scorers: Theuma 16, Cohen 66 Pen, Caruana 90.

Yellow Cards: Failla, Muscat, Hogg.

Red Cards: Okonkwo 66, Calleja 75, Theuma 90.

Player Of The Match: Svetlan Kondev (Pieta Hotspurs).