Valletta are back in command at the top of the BOV Premier League standings after a hard-earned but deserved 1-0 victory over strong contenders Birkirkara who did not profit from an extra man for the entire second half and more.

In fact, the Citizens had striker Denni red-carded for retaliation on 40 minutes but still found strength to score the all-important goal after that incident when, just before half-time, Ian Zammit headed past goalkeeper Reuben Gauci for the only goal of the match.

Valletta are now enjoying a one-point lead over Hibernians who hit back from their previous week’s upset to the City side with a 2-1 win over Sliema Wanderers.

The Wanderers are still not sure of a top-six berth and fought hard not to finish empty-handed but after Ivan Woods cancelled Clayton Failla’s early opener, they were unable to avoid the Paolites’ second goal, scored by Allan Kardeck soon after the break.

With Floriana and Qormi all but killing each other’s hopes of Championship Pool football this season after a drab 0-0 draw, Tarxien Rainbows continued to strengthen their top-six aspirations with a fine showing and a 3-1 win over Mosta.

For Tarxien none played better than Daniel Mariano Bueno, scorer of two goals.

Tarxien and Mosta have the same tally of points – 31 – one ahead of the Wanderers who will have to look behind their backs and the threat coming from Balzan, in seventh place.

On Friday, a Pedrinho-inspired Balzan bridged the gap with Sliema to five points following a comprehensive 4-0 win over relegation strugglers Melita.

At the lower end of the standings, Ħamrun Spartans finally halted a negative patch of eight successive defeats with a 3-1 win over bottom-placed Rabat Ajax, still without a win after 18 matches.

The Spartans paraded new foreigners Bledjon Guga and Loic Lumbilla Kandja who both left a good impression. The latter, in particular, printed an indelible mark on the match after hitting a first-half hat-trick to put the Reds on their way to victory.

Statistics

Scorers, red cards

Balzan FC
Elton 12 (3 pens); Pedrinho 8 (1 pen); Caruana 2, Licari 2; Mendy, Deanov, Pace, Forace, Camilleri, Conceicao.
Red cards: Conceicao (vs Ħamrun), Licari (vs Hibs), Pace (vs Sliema), Forace (vs Mosta).

Birkirkara
Mifsud Triganza 6, Jhonnattann 6 (1 pen); Vukanac 5; Haruna 5 (2 pens); R. Muscat 2, Joselito 2, Sciberras 2; Camenzuli 2, Fenech 2; Z. Muscat, Scicluna, Herrera.
Red cards: Scicluna (vs Balzan), Fenech (vs Ħamrun), Herrera (vs Qormi).

Floriana
Darmanin 8; Wasiu 4, Verma 4; Cilia 2, Coronado 2; Alhinho, Brown, Jeffers, Spiteri, Bugeja.
Red cards: Brown (vs Rabat), K. Farrugia (vs Mosta), Alhinho (vs Hibs).

Ħamrun Spartans
Grima 5 (3 pens); Vella 4; Lumbilla 3, Calabretta 3; Scerri, Bozhov, Zerafa, Spiteri, Camilleri (pen), Yoshev, Fenech.
Own goal: Gribbon (vs Melita).
Red cards: Fenech (vs Floriana), Cassar (vs Tarxien), Vitanov (vs Sliema), Cassar (vs Qormi).

Hibernians
Lima 7 (2 pens); Cohen 5, Failla 5; Pulis 3, Ribeiro 3, Dias 3; Farrugia 2; Pisani, Soares, Levnaic, Nwoba, Kristensen, Camilleri, Bezzina, Kardeck.
Red cards: Muscat (vs Balzan), Dias (vs Balzan), Pulis (vs Tarxien, vs Mosta), Nwoko (vs Melita), Dias (vs Birkirkara), Soares (vs Valletta).

Melita
Negrin 5 (now Rabat); L. Micallef 4; Galea 2; Vukanic (pen), Sammut, Sierra Camacho, Cabanillas.
Own goal: Pace (vs Balzan).
Red cards: Vukanic (vs Valletta), Sierra Camacho (vs Tarxien), Valenzia (vs Valletta), Sammut (vs Balzan).

Mosta
Obiefule 11 (1 pen); Mitev 5, Bogdanovic 5 (1 pen); Aboulezz 2, Apap 2, Zongo 2 (1 pen), Campagnoli 2; Bajada, Chiemeka.
Own goal: Bello-Osagie (vs Qormi).
Red cards: Grech (vs Sliema), Aboulezz (vs Floriana), Dimech (vs Balzan).

Qormi
Bello-Osagie 7; Pisani 4; Spiteri 3, Siritto 3; Chetcuti 3; Thackray 2, Zarate 2; Grech.

Rabat Ajax
Astrauskas 2, Fuster 2, Negrin 2, Felice 2 (1 pen); Smeir, Carapic, Borg.
Red cards: Borg (vs Floriana), Brincat (vs Sliema).

Sliema Wanderers
Woods 9 (3 pens); Faccini 4; Ruggiero 3, Ciantar 3; Muchardi 2; El Ghaouti, Barbetti, A. Muscat, Timotic, Gatt Baldacchino, Laudisi, Mifsud, Martinelli.
Red cards: Scerri (vs Floriana), Bonello (vs Floriana).

Tarxien Rainbows
Bueno 10 (2 pens); Danilo 7; Evaldo 5; Andrezinho 4; Anonam 2; Tanti 2; Pulo, Bonnici, Danilo, Bajada.
Red cards: Danilo (vs Sliema), Evaldo (vs Birkirkara).

Valletta
Mifsud 11 (2 pens); Gabriel 5, Denni 5; Fenech 3; Leandro 2, Briffa 2, Zammit 2 (1 pen), Barbosa 2 (1 pen); Caruana, Ricardo, Borg, Ogunnuppe.
Own goal: Tufegdzic (vs Melita).
Red card: Denni (vs Birkirkara).

Fixtures, standings

Friday (Tedesco Stadium): Tarxien vs Qormi 18.00; Ħamrun vs Hibs 20.15.
Saturday (National Stadium): Birkirkara vs Mosta 14.00; Sliema Wanderers vs Valletta 16.00.
Sunday (Hibs Stadium): Balzan vs Rabat 14.00; Floriana vs Melita 16.00.