SIRENS 0
HIBERNIANS 1
Diakite 45
SIRENS
M. Grech-7; G. Camilleri-6, W. Soares-6, M. Muniz-7, R. Tachikawa-6 (82 S. Arab), A. Vaikainah-7, A. Cini-6, P. Bento-6, I. Kolev-6, D. Jackson-6 (65 S. Sessegnon).
HIBERNIANS
I.Kone-6; F. Apap-6.5, K. Shaw-6.5, G. Bravo-7, J. Grech-6, J. Degabriele-6.5, B. Kristensen-6.5 (88 D. Vella), Z. Grech-6 (73 Thaylor), G. Artiles-6, Y. Muritala-6 (88 J. Morillas), A. Diakite-7 (90 R. Soares).
Referee Slobodan Petrovic.
BOV Player of the Match Ali Diakite (Hibernians).
An Ali Diakite brilliant strike was enough to hand Hibernians a narrow victory over Sirens as they moved into second place in the Premier League standings.
Andrea Pisanu’s side were in control of this fixture which did not produce a lot of scoring opportunities throughout the 90 minutes.
Nonetheless, Hibernians will welcome this victory which puts them four points behind leaders Ħamrun Spartans albeit the latter have a game in hand.
Moreover, it was a much-needed boost before their Super Cup tie against Floriana on Thursday.
On the other hand, Sirens remain fourth from bottom with 12 points to show for their efforts.
Despite going down, Winston Muscat’s side showed resiliency and organisation at the back but lacked any sort of inspiration when going forward.
In the opening stages of the game, Sirens’ Paolo Bento tried to surprise Hibernians with a close-range header but the ball was smothered into Ibrahim Kone’s hands.
Hibernians replied through Jurgen Degabriele who connected with a Bjorn Kristensen’s corner but his effort sailed over the bar.
Then on 20 minutes, Sirens’ defensive midfielder Armah Vaikainah hit a low drive straight into Kone from the edge of the area.
Moments later, Jake Grech tried his luck from long-range but goalkeeper Matthew Grech was alert to avert the danger.
The Sirens goalkeeper was forced into a spectacular save to deny Ferdinando Apap from a free-kick situation before the Hibernians’ defender saw his header attempt go wide from a corner-kick.
Just before half-time, Hibernians’ defender Kurt Shaw met a Grech-whipped delivery but his towering header was not on target.
As the game was heading into a goalless stalemate at the break, Hibernians drew first blood when midfielder Diakite hit a fierce strike that stunned Grech.
After the change of ends, Jake Grech hit a close-range strike for Hibernians but once again could not beat the Sirens’ goalkeeper.
As the half wore on, chances were rare with Hibernians controlling their one-goal lead in a comfortable manner.
Sirens, on their part, were struggling to take control of the ball and muster any chances with coach Winston Muscat inserting former Sunderland Stephane Sessegnon to try and spark his team into life but to no avail.
