Hibernians 0
Valletta 0
The one-all stalemate between Sliema Wanderers and Hamrun Spartans in yesterday's early kick-off ought to have galvanised the resolve of Valletta and Hibs to garner maximum spoils from their second round meeting.
Coming into this fixture on the back of a four-match winning streak and sitting atop the Premier League standings, Valletta had their gazes centred on victory to widen their gap on Sliema.
For their part, Hibs needed a win to join Sliema in second place on 20 points and detach themselves from the pack chasing a Championship Pool berth.
The end-product of the efforts of both teams was a tight and combative encounter which ended goalless.
Hibs enjoyed a slight edge over the plucky, but scrappy, Citizens who, despite their toils to get their attacking game off the ground, deserve credit for clinging on to the draw after going through the final 14 minutes with a man short following the sending-off of Steve Bezzina.
Valletta coach Paul Zammit restored Sebastian Monesterolo to his starting line-up after the Argentine served his one-match ban in the 3-0 victory over Pietà Hotspurs. Dyson Falzon made way for Monesterolo as captain Gilbert Agius was named among the substitutes.
Hibernians only had one foreign player in their first XI, Argentine midfielder Pablo Doffo, as coach Robert Gatt elected to keep Ndubisi Chukunyere and Julio Alcorse on the bench.
Nigerian Uzeh Edafe was sidelined by a one-match suspension.
There was little in the way of scoring chances in the opening quarter. The game was 14 minutes old when Edmond Agius, yesterday reverting to his more familiar station in the centre of midfield, produced a low shot which rolled wide of the far post.
Andrew Hogg, the Valletta goalkeeper, then became the first player to go into referee Anton Zammit's book for barging into Terence Scerri. The Hibs players and fans called on the referee to dismiss the City netminder but Zammit brandished the yellow card and awarded the Paolites a free-kick on the edge of the area.
Valletta got their first glimpse of Mario Muscat's goal midway into the first half when Stefan Giglio headed weakly from a long-range cross by Justin Grioli.
The early exchanges were peppered with a series of robust challenges which caused tempers to rise. Hibs were, by and large, the more enterprising team, their forceful approach offering considerable concern for the Whites who looked devoid of inspiration.
Yet, with seven minutes of the first half remaining, Valletta fluffed a golden opportunity to move ahead.
There seemed little danger for Hibs when Frank Temile veered from a wide position on the left towards the centre-circle, ball glued to his feet, and released an exquisite through-pass to the surging Ian Zammit. The Valletta forward crossed towards the far post where Heiner Backhaus was unmarked but the latter's central effort from close range was repelled by Muscat. The rebound fell to the German midfielder but he dragged his follow-on shot across the face of goal, much to the disappointment of the numerous City fans.
Towards the end of the first half, Valletta defender Josef Mifsud did well to head away a menacing far-post cross by Ben Camilleri.
Soon after the restart, Hogg was scampering to his left to keep out a teasing cross-cum-shot by Scerri. The lanky Hibs forward, whose movement was hindered by the knock he received to his back early in the first half, then squandered another inviting chance when striking the ball wide of the far post with only Hogg to beat.
At the other end, Grioli sized up a sizzling shot which whizzed wide of the near post. Thirteen minutes into the second half, Zammit sent on Agius instead of Zammit.
Having replaced the injured Kevin Cassar with Argentine striker Alcorse in the first half, Gatt made his second substitution, bringing on Jonathan Pearson for Scerri.
Pearson fashioned a central shot that was parried by Hogg as the second half reached the halfway stage.
Muscat stole the limelight with a top-drawer save to keep out an excellent volley from Agius who had been teed up by Backhaus.
The tit-for-tat nature of a tight match persisted in the second half. Fifteen minutes from the end, Cohen curled the ball past Valletta's human barrier from a free-kick but his shot finished over.
A minute later, Valletta were reduced to ten men, Bezzina receiving his marching orders from Zammit after earning his second caution in the space of two minutes for a late tackle on Camilleri.
In the dying minutes, Hibs' substitute Chukunyere sped forward to latch onto an inviting pass from Cohen but the grounder from the Nigerian forward lacked accuracy.
Hibs: M. Muscat-7, K. Cassar-6 ('41 J. Alcorse-5.5), A. Pulis-6, A. Xuereb-6.5, C. Failla-6, P. Doffo-6.5, T. Scerri-5.5 ('58 J. Pearson-6.5), A. Cohen-7, B. Camilleri-6 ('81 N. Chukunyere), J. Caruana-6.5, E. Agius-6.
Valletta: A. Hogg-7, J. Grioli-6, K. Scicluna-5.5, J. Mifsud-7.5, S. Bezzina-, I. Zammit-5.5 ('58 G. Agius-5.5), H. Backhaus-5.5, D. Camilleri-6, F. Temile-6, S. Giglio-5 ('70 C. Mattocks-5.5), S. Monesterolo-5 ('83 D. Falzon).
Referee: Anton Zammit.
Yellow cards: Hogg; Doffo; Agius; Bezzina; Grioli; Chukunyere.
Red card: Bezzina (V) 76.
BoV player of the match: Andrew Cohen (Hibs).