Rabat Ajax 1
Pelaez 18 pen;
Hibernians 4
Obiefule 16; Cohen 55; Edison 70; B. Muscat 80;
For much of the opening half, Hibernians had toiled to capitalise on their dominance. They had been pegged back by a pesky Rabat side who went in for the break on level terms after Daniel Pelaez converted a penalty to cancel Obinna Obiefule’s opener.
With the upset to rivals Valletta in midweek still fresh in their minds, the Paolites’ lacklustre display in the first half did little to raise the spirits of their fans but that changed after the break.
Showing more purpose and flair than they had in the opening 45 minutes, Hibs began to impose themselves on the faltering Magpies whose hopes of holding on to the draw had fizzled out by the 70th minute after the Paolites had opened a 3-1 lead.
Eager to impress after being handed a rare start, Obiefule did his first-team chances no harm as he was an enterprising figure in attack while Luis Edison, Clayton Failla and Bjorn Kristensen also left a good impression, especially in the second half.
The two changes in the Hibs line-up had been enforced upon coach Branko Nisevic by the suspension to Zoran Levnaic and Marcelo Dias who were replaced by Obiefule and Matthew Bartolo.
Hibs lined up in 3-1-4-2 fashion with Obiefule sharing attacking duties with Edison ‘Tarabai’.
Rabat coach Steve D’Amato was forced into a last-minute change as Jonathan Bajada pulled up during the warm-up. His void was filled by veteran Malcolm Licari while Zachary Tanti and Joseph Caruana deputised for Dylan Falzon and David Azzopardi, both serving a one-match ban.
A quick Rabat breakaway caught their opponents unawares after just one minute as Diego Carrillo Pendas drifted infield from the left before switching the ball to the unmarked Ryan Micallef who blasted over.
Micallef played at the tip of Rabat’s 4-2-3-1 formation with Carrillo, Moises Avila Perez and Licari floating behind.
Hibs began to enjoy more possession as the first half wore on.
Their first move of genuine quality produced an opener on 16 minutes as Edison deftly flicked the ball into the path of Obiefule whose grounder rolled past the diving Jonathan Azzopardi and against the base of the far post but the Nigerian hit home from the rebound.
A goal up early in the match, Hibs were expected to augment their pressure in search of a second but they were stunned as Rabat equalised two minutes later.
Referee André Arciola pointed to the spot after Ryan Camilleri was adjudged to have tripped Carrillo inside the box. Pelaez sent Mario Muscat the wrong way to make it one-all.
Hibs regained the initiative but found it hard to breach the dogged Rabat defence. Caruana was on the right spot to hook away a dangerous Edison cross-shot while Rodolfo Soares headed over from Kristensen’s free-kick.
Obiefule looked set to put Hibs back in front when he advanced unimpeded after getting on the end of a through-pass but Azzo-pardi repelled the danger.
Hibs intensified their pressure.
Jackson Lima’s first-timed shot from outside the penalty area soared above goal and, six minutes from half-time, Edison slipped past the Rabat defenders to meet a Clayton Failla centre but the keeper blocked his header.
The Paolites’ failure to translate their first-half supremacy into clearcut chances will have worried Nisevic. Their lack of fluency and off-the-ball movement contributed to their problems but Hibs started the second half in brisk mode.
They regained their lead 10 minutes after the restart when Lima’s set-piece cross from near the corner flag drifted past a host of players and Andrew Cohen was on hand to head home at the far post.
Obiefule almost put Hibs 3-1 up as he raced forward after being released by Lima. His lob had the better of Azzopardi but landed wide.
It was all Hibs now. They would have sealed the points but for a fine save from Azzopardi who pawed away Bartolo’s close-range drive after the latter had been set up by Failla.
It was only a matter of when not if Hibs would extend their lead. Edison saw to that 20 minutes from time, the Brazilian swivelling to ram a first-time shot past Azzopardi after good work by Cohen.
When Hibs struck their fourth, 10 minutes from time, it came from an unlikely source as Brandon Muscat, who had just come on for Lima, cut in from the right before producing a curling drive that gave Azzopardi no chance.
Rabat Ajax
J. Azzopardi-5.5, S. Gauci-5, Z. Tanti-4, I. Carapic-5, J. Caruana-5.5, C. Gauci-5, M. Licari-5.5 (67 A. Azzopardi-4), D. Pelaez-5, M. Avila Perez-4, D. Carrillo-6, R. Micallef-5 (80 C. Vella).
Hibernians
M. Muscat-6, R. Camilleri-6, J. Pearson-6, R. Soares-6, J. Lima-6.5 (78 B. Muscat), A. Cohen-6 (85 S. Chircop), B. Kristensen-7, C. Failla-7, M. Bartolo-6, O. Obiefule-7, L. Edison-6.5 (78 J.P. Farrugia).
Referee: André Arciola.
Yellow cards: Camilleri; Edison; Carrillo; Licari; Azzopardi; Carapic.
BOV player of the match: Obinna Obiefule (Hibernians).