The first heavyweight clash of the 2012/13 Premier League between Valletta and Hibernians went City’s way on Sunday but victory came at a cost for the champions as the Paolites reckoned a draw would have been a fairer result.

Mark Miller, the Valletta coach, was understandably a happy man at the end of the match as his team adopted a high-tempo game based on tight pressing and quick raids through their attacking trio of Michael Mifsud, Denni and Leandro. That way, Valletta gave the Paolites little chance to settle in the match.

Hibernians did show an improvement after the break but the Citizens’ edge in the last third of the pitch was still evident and Gabriel’s 75th-minute winner in the end tilted the balance in the Lilywhites’ favour.

Victory left the champions top of the standings with a perfect record from six matches, three points clear of Birkirkara and Hibernians.

The only blemish for the winners on Sunday was the injury to Ryan Fenech. The in-form midfielder is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines even though a scan today will reveal the exact time Fenech would need to cure his troubled adductor.

“This was a very high-tempo game we adopted, particularly in the opening half. I think, we created enough scoring oppor-tunities to close the match well before Gabriel’s goal.

“Losing Ryan was a blow for us, however. He was by far our best player in our last matches. I’m fearing the worst and he could be out from four to 12 weeks.

“In these circumstances, having a big squad like ours is an advantage. We are also hoping to have Ricardo back for our next match but Ian Azzopardi is out for sure. Shaun Bajada is a natural replacement for Ryan and he did well on Sunday.”

Valletta’s next match will be a showdown with Birkirkara, another team with high aspirations this season. Miller is looking forward to the challenge.

“Birkirkara will be a completely different proposition,” he said.

“They are more disciplined on the pitch and their style of play is more uniform than that of Hibs. But, given the form of my team, I’m confident ahead of what is set to be another difficult test.

“I’m satisfied with the players’ efforts lately. We have developed into a very attacking side and creating a lot of chances, scoring goals and, most importantly, pleasing our fans and others who come for our matches.”

Michael Woods, the Hibernians coach, felt his team was hard done-by with Sunday’s outcome as he felt his players did not deserve to finish empty-handed.

“Looking at how the match developed a drawn result would have made more justice to our contribution to the match,” he said.

“Valletta looked better in the first half but then we stepped up our game and more than matched our opponents. Valletta struck the winner in our best spell and after that we continued to pose problems for them and could have struck an equaliser.”

Against Valletta, Hibernians had four key players missing as goalkeeper Mario Muscat and striker Marcelo Dias were both suspended, striker Jean Paul Farrugia injured and Clayton Failla is currently serving a doping ban.

“When you consider that we had four players of that calibre missing, we should be satisfied with our efforts as we gave the best squad in the league a torrid time,” Woods opined.

“Now it’s important for us to bounce back, starting with our next league match against Sliema Wanderers.

“Farrugia, Muscat and Dias will be back this weekend and Failla returns next month so we’ll surely be able to field a stronger team and have more options. Besides, Udo Nwoko is still not 100 per cent fit and once he reaches full fitness he will be a great asset for us.

“Really, I don’t think that Sunday’s defeat will have much bearing on the title race. Once we get all our men running, Hibs will underline their status as the team to beat.”

BOV Premier League statistics

Scorers, red cards

Balzan FC: Elton 5 (2 pen); Pedrinho 2; Mendy, Licari.
Red card: Conceicao (vs Ħamrun Spartans), Licari (vs Hibs).

Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza –hat-trick for Birkirkara.Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza –hat-trick for Birkirkara.

Birkirkara: Mifsud Triganza 4; Jhonnattan 4; Muscat 2, Joselito 2, Shodiya 2 (1 pen); Vukanac, Camenzuli.
Red card: Scicluna (vs Balzan).

Floriana: Darmanin 3; Cilia 2; Alhinho, Verma, Brown, Wasiu.
Red card: Brown (vs Rabat Ajax), K. Farrugia (vs Mosta).

Ħamrun: Grima 3 (1 pen); Calabretta 2; Scerri, Bozhov, Zerafa, Vella.
Own goal: Gribbon (vs Melita).
Red cards: Fenech (vs Floriana), Cassar (vs Tarxien Rainbows).

Hibernians: Lima 4 (1 pen), Cohen 3, Dias 3; Pulis 2; Pisani, Soares, Levnaic, Nwoba.
Red cards: Muscat (vs Balzan), Dias (vs Balzan).

Melita: Armaro Negrin 2, L. Micallef 2; Galea, Vukanic (pen).
Red cards: Vukanic (vs Valletta), Sierra Camacho (vs Tarxien Rainbows).

Mosta: Obiefule 5 (1 pen); Mitev 4; Aboulezz 2; Bajada, Campagnoli, Zongo, Apap.
Own goal: Bello-Osagie (vs Qormi).
Red card: Grech (vs Sliema Wanderers), Firas Aboulezz (vs Floriana).

Qormi: Spiteri 3; Bello-Osagie 2; Thackray, Chetcuti, Pisani.

Rabat Ajax: Astrauskas 2; Fuster.
Red card: Borg (vs Floriana), Brincat (vs Sliema Wanderers).

Sliema Wanderers: Ciantar 2, Ruggiero 2, Woods 2; El Ghaouti, Barbetti, Muchardi, A. Muscat.

Tarxien Rainbows: Danilo 2, Bueno 2, Evaldo 2; Andrezinho, Tanti.
Red card: Danilo (vs Sliema Wanderers), Evaldo (vs Birkirkara).

Valletta: Mifsud 9 (2 pens); Fenech 3, Gabriel 3; Denni Rocha Dos Santos, Caruana, Ricardo, Borg, Briffa.
Own goal: Tufegdzic (vs Melita).

Next fixtures

Friday (Tedesco Stadium)
Ħamrun Spartans vs Rabat - 18.00
Floriana vs Qormi - 20.15

Saturday (National Stadium)
Sliema W. vs Hibernians - 15.00
Birkirkara vs Valletta - 17.00

Sunday (National Stadium)
Balzan vs Melita - 15.00
Tarxien R. vs Mosta - 17.00

Standings


P W D L F A Pts
Valletta 6 6 0 0 21 4 18
Birkirkara 6 5 0 1 16 5 15
Hibernians 6 5 0 1 16 8 15
Mosta 6 4 0 2 16 10 12
Sliema W. 6 3 1 2 10 8 10
Floriana 6 2 2 2 9 9 8
Tarxien 6 2 1 3 8 10 7
Qormi 6 2 0 4 8 14 6
Ħamrun 6 1 3 2 10 17 6
Balzan 6 1 1 4 9 13 4
Rabat Ajax 6 0 1 5 3 14 1
Melita 6 0 1 5 6 20 1

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