Msida St Joseph 0
Hibernians 1
Malasenoks 77
Down to ten men from the 26th minute, champions Hibernians dug in to edge Msida 1-0 and maintain their steady ascent in the Premier League.
Castigated in all quarters for their 0-5 drubbing at the hands of Balzan in the FA Trophy, Msida produced a resilient display but they left it too late to apply pressure on their depleted opponents.
Coming from a 1-0 win over Valletta, Hibs were justifiably upbeat about their chances of having the better of the stuttering Saints but the early sending-off of Leighton Grech complicated matters for the Paolites.
To their credit, Hibs didn't panic, regrouped and weathered the storm before applying the killer touch late on.
Injuries deprived Mark Miller of a clutch of first-choice players, namely Andrew Cohen, Jonathan Caruana, Jonathan Pearson and Ben Camilleri.
With Rumen Galabov ruled out by a one-match suspension, Miller, himself serving the first of a four-match touchline ban, only had young, untried players as substitutes.
Msida's hopes were bolstered by the return from injury of Tyrone Farrugia, their defensive bulwark. Zoran Levnaic was absent after failing to shake off a knee injury.
The Saints fluffed a golden opportunity to move ahead as early as the third minute. Adam Spiteri's cross invited Adrian Farrugia to put pressure on Adrian Pulis whose tame header fell into the path of the ummarked Emiliano Lattes but the latter dragged his shot just wide.
The champions played a 4-1-4-1 with Edward Herrera and Grech given instructions to push up the flanks in support of lone striker Etienne Barbara.
Somewhat surprisingly, Msida were the brisker side early on. Lattes outmuscled Ryan Camilleri but out came Mario Muscat to close down the Argentine striker.
Mark Marlow, the Msida coach, reverted to 4-4-1-1 with Lattes operating behind Olushola Aganun for whom this match was probably his last for the Saints. The Nigerian is expected to join a club in Vietnam this week.
At the other end, Olegs Malasenoks volleyed wide after getting at the end of Christian Callejas's free-kick.
The exchanges were balanced in the opening 20 minutes. Midway through the first half, Barbara got behind the Msida defence but his effort was kept out by Manuel Bartolo.
Barely two minutes later, Hibs suffered an unexpected setback when Grech was shown a straight red by referee Alan Mario Sant who ruled that the young winger had intentionally elbowed Msida's Spiteri in a tussle for the ball.
Malasenoks would have given Hibs some breathing space when meeting Herrera's cross but his half-volley from point blank drew a reflex save from Bartolo.
Only three minutes from the start of the second half had elapsed when Aganun cut in from the left but his effort was stopped by Muscat.
The Hibs goalkeeper then provoked the ire of the Msida players and fans when holding up play after he had sprinted out of goal to break down an attack.
The Paolites were finding it hard to create openings but 13 minutes from time they forced a breakthrough.
Spotting Malasenoks's ghosting run into the box, Barbara duly slipped the ball to the Latvian who fired low past Bartolo.
Tristan Caruana, one of Hibs' better performers, hit a shot that Bartolo saved but the final minutes belonged to Msida. Lattes had a dangerous effort blocked by Herrera and a long-range drive by Tyrone Farrugia ended just wide.
Muscat preserved Hibs' lead with successive saves from Tyrone Farrugia and Andrew Formosa. Thanks to this victory, the Paolites moved top, level with Valletta and Qormi.
Msida St Joseph
M. Bartolo-6.5, S. Grima-5 ('81 K. Ebejer), R. Baldacchino-5, C. Sciberras-6, T. Farrugia-7, A. Spiteri-5, O. Aganun-6.5, K. Mifsud-6, A. Farrugia-6.5 ('88 I. Curmi), E. Lattes-6.5, L. Micallef-5 ('67 A. Formosa-5.5).
Hibernians
M. Muscat-8, K. Cassar-5 ('46 M. Hammet-6.5), R. Camilleri-6.5, A. Xuereb-6 ('70 M. Tabone-6), A. Pulis-6, C. Callejas-7, O. Malasenoks-6.5, T. Caruana-7.5, E. Herrera-7, L. Grech, E. Barbara-6.
Referee: Alan Mario Sant.
Yellow cards: Mifsud; Grima; Muscat; Bartolo; Formosa; Sciberras.
Red card: Grech (H) 26.
BoV player of the match: Olegs Malasenoks (Hibernians).