Valletta 1
Kooh Sohna 90;
Hibernians 2
Jorginho 6; Edison 36;

Title hopefuls Hibernians pro-vided a statement of intent when they scored two first-half goals to see off an inept Valletta side yesterday.

This was a polished display from the Paolites who looked superior in all areas with the swift movement of Andrew Cohen, Luis Edison and Jorginho, their attack-ing trio, continuously tormenting the City defence.

Buoyed by Jorginho’s early opener, Hibernians bossed pro-ceedings for much of the opening half and created enough chances to move out of sight before Edison added a second nine minutes from half-time to leave the champions with a mountain to climb.

Valletta’s response never arrived as they looked short of ideas with Ryan Fenech and the returning Roderick Briffa failing to provide the much-needed spark in midfield.

Cameroonian striker Raphael Kooh Sohna, a second-half substitute for Abdelkarim Nafti, pulled one back in stoppage time but it was not enough as the Citizens crashed to their second defeat in four games.

With this win, Hibs have now chalked up their fourth successive victory to remain the only side with a perfect record.

More importantly, they have taken sole leadership in the standings, two points clear of Balzan and Mosta.

Branko Nisevic, the Hibernians coach, handed a debut to Andrei Agius who joined the Paolites earlier this month.

The Malta international took his place in a three-man defence alongside Rodolfo Soares, who returned from suspension, and Rui de Gracia Gomes.

Keith Tanti and Jackson Lima were the two players who lost their place from the team that beat Sliema 3-1 last month.

Valletta were boosted by the return from injury of key midfielder Briffa who was handed a starting berth by coach Gilbert Agius at the expense of Christian Caruana who failed to recover from injury.

Lateef Elford-Alliyu, Valletta’s hero in their derby victory over Floriana, was rewarded with a starting place at the expense of Kooh Sohna who was included among the substitutes.

Ryan Camilleri also returned, filling the void left by Jonathan Caruana who was still nursing a groin injury.

Alex Terra, the Brazilian winger who joined the Citizens late last month, started on the bench.

Hibernians took just six minutes to break the stalemate.

Jorginho received a pass from Cohen on the edge of the box and, despite being closely marked by Luke Dimech, the Brazilian striker turned quickly and hit a firm drive that gave Valletta goalkeeper Nicky Vella no chance.

Stunned after conceding so early, the Whites struggled to produce a reaction.

They only managed to threaten on 20 minutes when, from Shaun Bajada’s corner, Ian Azzopardi directed a header just wide.

Agius almost marked his debut with a goal three minutes later when the Hibernians centre-back took possession some 30 metres out and hit a rasping drive that forced Vella into a fine save.

On the half hour, Vella almost gifted Hibernians a second goal when he misjudged Clayton Failla’s cross with the ball falling into the path of Luis Edison who took too long to conclude and was eventually closed down by the Valletta defenders.

But the Brazilian striker did not miss a second time as six minutes later, he doubled his team’s lead. Cohen picked out Edison with a fine throughball and the nippy forward sent a low drive past Vella.

Valletta tried to mount a fightback. Four minutes from half-time, Dimech met Nafti’s free-kick but his header flashed wide.

Jorginho almost piled more misery on Valletta in time added-on when he let fly a dipping shot that brought a fine one-handed save from Vella.

On the restart, one expected Valletta to step up their game but they rarely threatened the Paolites’ goal despite their superior possession.

On the hour, Agius effected a double change as Nafti and Fenech were replaced by Kooh Sohna and Terra, who was handed his debut.

Dimech took the captain’s armband.

A minute later Valletta were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box but Briffa’s inswinger was deviated just past the upright.

Nisevic responded by roping in Lima for Johann Bezzina.

Valletta’s changes inevitably left the team exposed at the back and the Paolites almost punished them on 66 minutes.

In a swift break, Edison powered his way into the penalty area before cutting the ball back to Jorginho whose shot was somehow deflected wide by the City defence.

The Citizens finally created a decent chance on 78 minutes when Terra rifled a firm drive that was blocked by Bonello.

The Hibs goalkeeper was again alert to deny Terra whose stinging shot was pushed away for a corner.

Three minutes from time, Valletta were unlucky not to reopen the issue as Elford-Alliyu was put through by substitute Llywelyn Cremona but the English forward saw his grounder hit the post with Bonello beaten.

A Bonello howler gave Valletta a lifeline as the Hibs goalkeeper charged out of goal but was anticipated by Kooh Sohna who slotted home from a tight angle.

But that came too late as Hibs held out for a merited win.

Valletta
N. Vella-5, I. Azzopardi-5.5, S. Borg-5.5, R. Camilleri-6, R. Fenech-5 (60 A. Terra-6), H. Faria-6 (78 L. Cremona), R. Briffa-5, L. Elford-Alliyu-5.5, S. Bajada-5, A. Nafti-5 (60 R. Kooh Sohna-6), L. Dimech-6.

Hibernians
H. Bonello-5.5, R. De Gracia Gomes-6.5, R. Soares-7, M. Dias-6 (65 K. Tanti), A. Cohen-7, B. Kristensen-6.5, C. Failla-6, J. Bezzina-6 (66 J. Lima-6), A. Agius-7.5, L. Edison-7, Jorginho-8 (90 J. Degabriele).

Referee: Chris Lautier.

Yellow cards: Dimech; Edison; Azzopardi.

BOV player of the match: Jorginho (Hibernians).

Attendance: 2,088.

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Hibernians	4	4	0	0	10	3	12
Balzan	4	3	1	0	10	6	10
Mosta	4	3	1	0	5	1	10
Birkirkara	4	3	0	1	9	4	9
Tarxien R.	4	0	4	0	4	4	4
Valletta	4	1	1	2	3	3	4
Qormi	4	1	1	2	3	4	4
Floriana	4	1	1	2	4	7	4
Sliema W.	4	0	3	1	3	5	3
Naxxar L.	4	0	2	2	2	4	2
Pietà H.	4	0	1	3	2	6	1
Żebbuġ R.	4	0	1	3	5	13	1