Valletta ended the first round of the BOV Premier League on top after a hard-earned 2-0 victory over Marsaxlokk on Sunday restored their one-point lead over Hibernians.

The Citizens attacked for long stretches but had to wait until 13 minutes into the second half to open the scoring through captain Gilbert Agius.

Ousseni Zongo, a second-half substitute for Brazilian Denni, put the result beyond the battling Marsaxlokk when hitting a second goal on the stroke of time.

On Saturday, Hibs extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches after a 4-0 rout of Qormi. Brazilian striker Luis Edison, aka Tarabai, once again took centre-stage for Hibs as he scored a hat-trick to take his tally to 14 goals this season.

The other Hibs goal was scored by the equally impressive Clayton Failla two minutes from half-time as Mark Miller’s side returned to winning ways after back-to-back draws.

Floriana produced an amazing fightback as they hit back from two goals down to beat lowly Mosta 3-2 on Friday.

Mosta, the bottom side in the Premier League, had looked on course to obtain only their second victory of the season after goals from Gilbert Martin and Ian Zammit hd given them a 2-0 lead but Joseph Borg revived Floriana’s hopes when pulling one back two minutes into the second half.

Yet, the Greens left it until the final five minutes to complete their recovery as Swedish mid-fielder Andre Grabowski levelled at 2-2 before Christian Cassar’s left-wing corner in stoppage time sailed into the net after taking a deflection.

Victory for Floriana lifted them to third in the table on 20 points.

Birkirkara are fourth, one point behind the Greens, after bouncing back from their 3-2 upset to Tarxien with a 2-1 win over Balzan Youths.

Kris Bright fired Balzan ahead after only five minutes but Paul Fenech equalised for the Stripes six minutes into the second half before striker Moises Avila Perez scored with a superb overhead kick to seal the three points for his team.

Sliema Wanderers halted their five-match winless streak with a straightforward 3-0 victory over Tarxien Rainbows on Saturday.

Bulgarian forward Danail Mitev notched a brace for the Blues with the other goal coming from Brazilian Jorge on the stroke of half-time.

Ħamrun Spartans atoned for their 5-3 upset to Marsaxlokk with a 3-2 victory over Mqabba.

The Spartans looked cruising to an easy ride over Mqabba after Anderson Ribeiro, Dene Shields (penalty) and Lee James Agius put the Reds 3-0 up with 19 minutes left.

But Mqabba scored two late goals, through Thiago Mazzitelli and Bojan Mamic (penalty) to set up a tense finale.

Premier League statistics

Scorers, red cards

Balzan: Bright 4; Ciantar 3; Tasic, Camilleri, Farrugia, Grima.
Red cards: Pedrinho (vs Qormi, vs Mqabba), Francica (vs Hibs), Forace (vs Tarxien), Ciantar (vs Valletta).

Birkirkara: Avila Perez 8; Cilia 4 (3 pens); Grech 2, Pereira 2; Buhagiar, Zerafa, Vella, Muscat, Fenech.
Red card: Decesare (vs Mosta).

Floriana: Caruana 4; Woods 3 (1 pen); Grabowski 2, Cassar 2; Odwong, Mintoff, Farrugia, Micallef, J. Borg.
Own goal: Everton (vs Tarxien).
Red cards: Amamoo (vs Sliema); Bartolo (vs Birkirkara).

Ħamrun Spartans: Grima 4, Ribeiro 4; Shields 3 (1 pen); Luis Silva, Sammut, Toneto Porcari, Agius.
Red cards: Agius (vs Balzan), Polli (vs Birkirkara).

Hibs: Edison 14; Failla 8; Caruana 2; Soares, Cohen, Anizoba.
Red card: Pulis (vs Valletta).

Marsaxlokk: Obiefule 10; Deanov 4; Farrugia 2; Lattes 2; Kokavessis, Campagnoli.
Red cards: Templeman (vs Hibernians), Brincat (vs Qormi).

Mosta: Zammit 3 (1 penalty), Martin 3; Mvondo 2; Aboulezz, Arilson.
Own goal: Buhagiar (vs Birkirkara).
Red cards: Ossok (vs Hibs); Tisbi (vs Qormi).

Mqabba: Mamic 6 (1 pen), Mazzitelli 6 (1 pen); Azzopardi, Briffa, Potezica.
Red cards: Mazzitelli (vs Marsaxlokk), Mamic (vs Hibs), Timotic (vs Hibs).

Qormi: Farrugia 8 (4 pens); Jorge Pereira 4, Nwoke 4; Bello Osagie 3; Bartolo, Sciberras, Bondin.

Sliema: Mitev 6 (3 pens); Lima 4; Jorge 3; Mifsud Triganza 2, Bajada 2; Scerri, Ani, Frendo, Galabov.
Red cards: Scerri (vs Hibs), Grech (vs Floriana), Mitev (vs Marsaxlokk).

Tarxien Rainbows: Bueno 6 (1 pen); Ricardo 3; Anonam 2, Galvao 2; Everton.
Own goal: Pereira (vs Birkirkara).
Red cards: Anonam (vs Mosta), Costa (vs Balzan).

Valletta: Barbosa 5, Effiong 5; Denni 3; Mifsud 2, Pace 2, Borg 2, Briffa 2, Zongo 2; G. Agius.
Red cards: G. Agius, Borg, Fenech (vs Hibs).

Current standings


 P W D L F A Pts
Valletta 11 9 1 1 24 9 28
Hibernians 11 8 3 0 27 8 27
Floriana 11 6 2 3 17 11 20
Birkirkara 11 6 1 4 21 14 19
Sliema 11 4 5 2 21 17 17
Qormi 11 5 2 4 22 19 17
Balzan Youths 11 3 2 6 13 19 11
Mqabba 11 3 2 6 15 22 11
Ħamrun 11 3 2 6 15 23 11
Marsaxlokk 11 3 1 7 20 27 10
Tarxien 11 3 1 7 15 26 10
Mosta 11 1 2 8 11 26 5

Next fixtures

Friday (Tedesco Stadium)
19.30 Tarxien Rainbows vs Valletta

Saturday (Hibs Stadium)
14.00 Mqabba vs Floriana
16.00 Hibs vs Sliema Wanderers

Sunday (Tedesco Stadium)
14.00 Mosta vs Marsaxlokk
16.15 Ħamrun vs Balzan

Monday (Tedesco Stadium)
19.30 Qormi vs Birkirkara

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