Hibernians 1

Valletta 1

Valletta and Hibernians shared the spoils in an entertaining match in the Euro Cup.

The Valletta coach, awarded starting roles to three foreigners, namely Italian goalkeeper Pietro Marino, former Nadur Youngsters midfielder Milos Stojanovic and Dutch striker Hendri Gommans.

New Hibernians coach Branko Nisevic included Matthew Gauci and Steve Pisani, back in the Paolties’ fold after a loan spell with Qormi and Floriana respectively.

Valletta’s first foray into the Hibernians’ half saw Scerri make headway on the left before he whipped in a cross towards Stojanovic whose drive finished just wide after 12 minutes.

The Serbian midfielder was again in the thick of things when Valletta broke the stalemate on 31 minutes. Dyson Falzon delivered a perfect ball to Stojanovic headed it into the path of Camilleri who flashed in before guiding a looping header over Chris Cassar. Few moments later, Cassar had to arch backwards to tip Scerri’s header over the bar.

On the other side, Marino’s top-drawer save to turn Andrew Cohen’s free-kick over the bar was met by a loud cheer from the Valletta fans.

Past the hour mark, a fluid City move opened up Hibernians and Gommans darted into the box and squared to Scerri who looked odds-on to score but Zoran Levnaic’s double-block denied the striker.

Five minutes from time, Gommans did well to control the ball but his shot on the turn was palmed away by Cassar. Valletta continued to dominate but were made to pay in the final minutes when substitute Miguel Attard hauled Obina Obiefule down into the box. Referee Arciola pointed to the spot and the Nigerian striker calmly stroke the ball low into the net.