Hibernians 3
Cohen 50; Jorginho 57, 90;
Valletta 1
Elford-Alliyu 22;

This clash was always going to be a scintillating affair but nobody would have envisaged the events that defined it.

Trailing Hibs by 12 points, Valletta knew they had to win to resurrect their title hopes and their sprightly movement in the early stages suggested that the champions were up for the challenge.

They were the hungrier side, roaring forward with zest and harrying their opponents when chasing possession. Their efforts yielded a deserved opener, taken with panache by Lateef Elford-Alliyu, but then the unthinkable happened.

Valletta’s rising optimism was eroded when Jonathan Caruana was shown a straight red card after he was adjudged by referee Mario Apap to have raised his foot at Marcelo Dias as the two tumbled over after the latter had fouled the Valletta defender.

As if that was not a big-enough setback for Valletta, they endured further calamity seven minutes later when captain Ryan Fenech, who had earlier been booked for protests, was also expelled after a needless foul on Dias close to the halfway line earned him a second yellow.

These dismissals inflamed the City fans who felt that referee Mario Apap was being too heavy-handed with their team, especially in the first episode that resulted in Caruana’s dismissal as Valletta were adamant that the defender had hit Dias accidentally.

However, the fatal wound was self-inflicted as Fenech knew he was walking on a tightrope the moment he was booked for dissent.

As it was, Hibs inevitably seized control in the second half with captain Andrew Cohen coming to the fore to inspire his team to their 14th league win this season.

Cohen breached Valletta’s re-sistance with a great strike early in the second half before orchestrating the second which all but knocked the stuffing out of the never-say-die Whites who were now facing an impossible mission.

As Hibs pulled clear of their fading opponents, with Jorginho scoring a third, and his second of the game, in stoppage time, their jubilant fans chanted ‘Tuna t-tazza’ (give us the trophy).

Indeed, the title is now Hibs’ to lose after accelerating 15 points clear at the top.

The two teams had marched on to the pitch amid deafening cheers from the two sets of fans. Up went the flags as the supporters un-furled two giant streamers that almost covered the entire section.

The stage was set for an epic clash but those two red cards defaced this contest.

The line-ups had offered no surprises yesterday.

Ivan Zammit, the Valletta coach, justifiably kept faith with the same formation that stormed to a 4-1 victory over their rivals Floriana.

It was also the same approach, tactically, with Elford-Alliyu, who struck a hat-trick in the derby, confirmed as Valletta’s attacking fulcrum and Abdelkarim Nafti and Hamza Barry on the wings.

Fenech was Valletta’s midfield enforcer with Roderick Briffa and Shaun Bajada detailed to provide craft and graft in a 4-3-3 module.

Hibs coach Branko Nisevic sent out his tried-and-trusted personnel with Marcelo Dias restored to the initial XI after recovering from injury.

Dias was preferred to youngster Joseph Mbong with the Brazilian speedster deployed on the right flank in Hibs’ 3-4-1-2 formation.

Cohen was assigned roaming duties behind the mobile duo of Luis Edison ‘Tarabai’ and Jorginho.

Valletta stormed out of the blocks and shaded the initial exchanges as Hibs, probably anticipating such an approach from their opponents, looked content to absorb the early pressure.

The roles assigned to Fenech and Cohen set up a tantalising duel as the two captains occupied the same space.

For all their possession, the champions were unable to muster a glimmer of a scoring chance.

That changed on 17 minutes. Latching on to Briffa’s inviting pass, Bajada held off his marker and hit a perfect cross to Barry but the Gambian’s first-time volley was wide and high.

A promising Hibs move saw Edison lay the ball off to Jorginho who brought the erstwhile subdued Clayton Failla into the play. The latter’s cross was repelled by Valletta who were quick to break on the counter.

A dazzling raid ensued as Fenech, having exchanged passes with Briffa, roared forward on the left and duly served Elford-Alliyu who was clear.

The English forward still had it all to do but, underlining his supreme confidence, Elford-Alliyu glided into the box, swept past Rui Da Gracia Gomes and goalkeeper Henry Bonello before rifling the ball home.

Hibs almost scored an instant equaliser as Failla’s free-kick was fumbled by Nicky Vella, the Valletta goalkeeper. A goalmouth scramble ensued as the Valletta defenders threw themselves across to close down the Hibs strikers. Jorginho managed to get to the ball but his effort was blocked.

The Citizens remained in control, also having a goal disallowed after Nafti was deemed to be in an offside position when he unleashed his shot after being set up by Barry, but they were dealt an unexpected setback just past the half-hour.

Dias clattered into Caruana whose elevated foot made contact with the Brazilian as the two went down.

Apap promptly brandished the red card to dismiss the Valletta centre-half, triggering vehement protests from the City players and fans.

Luke Dimech came on for Nafti but before Valletta had time to regain their composure, they were hit by another hammer blow as Fenech was given his marching orders for going in hard on Dias, much to the dismay of the City faithful.

On the stroke of half-time, Cohen was close with a rising shot after Valletta had partially cleared Failla’s free-kick.

Down to nine men, Valletta were clinging on but refused to lie down.

The Valletta fans shouted their indignation at Apap as the two teams headed for the dressing rooms at half-time.

Hibs were now expected to turn up the pressure. They duly obliged at the start of the second half, pummeling Valletta from the outset. They didn’t have to wait long to equalise as, five minutes after the restart, Cohen profited from a rare indecision by the City defence to accelerate into the box through the middle before lifting his shot past Vella.

Inspired by the relentless Cohen, Hibs continued to swarm forward in numbers.

A dazzling run by Cohen led to Hibs’ second goal as the nimble playmaker sprinted past two players before laying the ball to Jorginho who sidefooted the ball past the diving Vella.

Despite being a goal and two men down, Valletta tried to summon a reaction. They won a corner after Steve Borg’s powerful throw-in was headed away by Andrei Agius.

Valletta were now playing without a recognised centre-forward after Zammit hauled off Elford-Alliyu in favour of defensive midfielder Hugo Faria, leaving the indefatigable Barry to plough a lone furrow up front.

The rhythm of the game dropped as the second half wore on but to their credit Valletta battled on.

The Paolites seemed happy to preserve their lead as the Citizens were running on empty.

With four minutes left, Valletta were awarded a free-kick after Rodolfo Soares brought down Barry but Briffa’s free-kick was high and wide.

As Valletta pushed more men upfield in a last-ditch attempt to save the match, Hibs applied the killer touch in stoppage time thanks to Jorginho who steered his shot past Vella after the Whites were caught out at the back.

Hibernians
H. Bonello-6, R. De Gracia Gomes-5.5, R. Soares-6, M. Dias-5.5 (67 J. Lima-6), A. Cohen-8 (82 T. Tabone Desira), B. Kristensen-6.5, C. Failla-6, J. Bezzina-6 (90 J. Pearson), A. Agius-6, Luis Edison-5, Jorginho-7.5.

Valletta
N. Vella-4, J. Caruana, I. Azzopardi-6.5, S. Borg-8, R. Camilleri-6.5, R. Fenech, R. Briffa-6, L. Elford-Alliyu-7 (58 H. Faria-5.5), H. Barry-7.5, S. Bajada-6 (60 L. Cremona-6), A. Nafti-6.5 (34 L. Dimech-7).

Referee: Mario Apap.

Yellow cards: Dias; Edison; Bajada; Fenech; Agius; Barry; Dimech; Soares; Briffa.

Red cards: Caruana (V) 31; Fenech (V) 37.

BOV player of the match: Andrew Cohen (Hibs). Attendance 3,250.

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Hibernians	15	14	1	0	48	8	43
Valletta	15	9	1	5	35	11	28
Birkirkara	15	9	1	5	27	16	28
Mosta	15	6	2	7	16	29	20
Sliema W.	15	5	4	6	16	18	19
Balzan	15	4	7	4	18	21	19
Floriana	15	4	6	5	21	30	18
Naxxar L.	15	4	5	6	20	23	17
Qormi	15	4	5	6	16	24	17
Pietà H.	15	3	5	7	13	24	14
Tarxien R.	15	2	7	6	15	24	13
Żebbuġ R.	15	1	6	8	17	34	9