Valletta 4
Hamrun Spartans 1
Valletta made full profit of Sliema Wanderers' slip-up against Birkirkara yesterday as they kickstarted their "final examinations period", as their coach Paul Zammit tagged the Championship Pool trek, with a deserved victory over Hamrun Spartans.
Determined to gather the three points and reclaim top spot from Marsaxlokk who opened their top-six commitments with a 2-1 win over Floriana, the Citizens shrugged off the setback of an early goal to overpower the Spartans to the tune of 4-1.
Alfred Effiong's second-minute breakthrough for the Spartans had raised hope of a keenly-contested encounter but from the moment Valletta overturned the deficit, there was no doubt as to where the points were heading to as the leaders cantered to an easy win with a combination of resilience and attacking flair.
A minute's silence in memory of ex-Zurrieq and Valletta player Mario Schembri was impeccably observed before kick-off.
Paul Zammit, the Valletta coach, again elected to field a three-pronged attack of Sebastian Monesterolo, Frank Temile and Dyson Falzon but Stefan Giglio started on the bench. Ian Zammit was not in the squad as he was seeing out a one-match ban.
Hamrun Spartans coach Marco Gerada made only one change from the team that ground out a 1-1 draw against Hibs to seal a place in the top-six pool, Nigerian defender Precious Monye coming in for the suspended Roderick Fenech.
The game was barely two minutes old when Hamrun Spartans stunned Valletta by taking the lead. Mark Anthony Bonnici was the provider with a teasing cross from a corner and Nigerian Alfred Effiong capitalised on the sloppy marking by the Valletta defenders to head the ball past a startled Andrew Hogg.
It took Valletta only five minutes to restore equilibrium. David Camilleri's through-pass seeped through the Spartans defence and Nigerian Frank Temile nipped in to drill a low shot past Sean Sullivan.
The Citizens might have gone ahead a few moments later when Temile dragged the ball back for captain Gilbert Agius whose fierce volley was pushed out by Sullivan. The loose ball fell to Monesterolo who shot home but the Argentine was adjudged to have been in an offside position and the 'goal' was disallowed.
Midway through the first half, Valletta had their noses in front. Lurking in the inside-left channel, the ebullient Temile delivered a lopping cross towards the far post and Monesterolo fired a powerful first-time volley past Sullivan for a fine goal.
Valletta's quick turnaround emboldened their confidence and Monesterolo came close to making it 3-1 when Agius played him through on the right but out came Sullivan to repel the danger.
The Citizens now established a foothold in the match, Falzon seeing his diagonal effort being deflected away for a corner.
Rupert Mangion almost broke Valletta's growing momentum when he elegantly jinked his way into the box but his shot was diverted for a corner.
In first-half stoppage time, the Spartans provided another reminder of their counter-attacking threat when Effiong used his speed to get behind the City defence but his grounder was kept out by Hogg's outstretched legs.
Any hopes the Spartans might have had of clawing their way back in contention were dashed within two minutes of the start of the second half. A raking, left-wing cross from Agius soared over the Hamrun rearguard and towards defender Josef Mifsud who guided the ball past Sullivan from point blank.
Hamrun defender Neville Galea picked up an injury in the action leading Valletta's third goal and was unable to continue. He was replaced by Aaron Attard.
There was a notable decline in the intensity of the match after Mifsud's goal but the growing feeling at the National Stadium was that Valletta had switched to cruise control too soon.
On two occasions the Spartans threatened to punish lapses in concentration by the Citizens but first, Gaetan Spiteri failed to make anything like the contact he would have wished when Effiong sent him clear and then the Nigerian mishit his shot from a good position before he hobbled off the pitch with a leg injury. Veteran striker Stefan Sultana came on for Effiong.
Valletta fans shouted "penalty, when Temile appeared to have been pushed as he tried to reach a pass from Camilleri but referee Chris Lautier saw nothing wrong.
Ten minutes from time, Valletta pulled further clear of the Spartans, Temile poking the ball home from close in after Sullivan had parried Monesterolo's initial effort. The Argentine had been picked out by a pinpointed pass from Falzon who opened up the Hamrun defence with a strong run down the left.
In the dying moments of the game, darkness engulfed the National Stadium due to a power failure. After a brief interruption, the light returned but not long after, Lautier blew the final whistle.
Valletta: A. Hogg-6, J. Grioli-6, K. Scicluna-6 ('85 B. Agius), J. Mifsud-6.5, S. Bezzina-6.5, H. Backhaus-5.5 ('69 S. Giglio), D. Camilleri-6, D. Falzon-6.5, G. Agius-6 ('76 J. Bondin), F. Temile-6.5, S. Monesterolo-6.5.
Hamrun: S. Sullivan-6.5, M.A. Bonnici-6, P. Monye-6, S. Meilak-4.5, R. Fenech-4.5, J. Debattista-5 ('70 C. Cacciatolo), R. Mangion-6, N. Galea-5.5 ('50 A. Attard-5), B. Timotic-5, G. Spiteri-5.5, A. Effiong-5 ('63 S. Sultana).
Referee: Chris Lautier.
Scorers: Effiong 2; Temile 7, 80; Monesterolo 23; Mifsud 47.
Yellow cards: Effiong; Bonnici.
BoV Player of the match: Frank Temile (Valletta).