Champions and league leaders Sliema Wanderers maintained their supremacy at the top of the standings on Sunday afternoon as they beat a resilient Marsaxlokk side by the odd goal in three.

As a result of the other matches played a day earlier, Valletta maintained the pace with the Blues with a solid 3-0 win over Hibernians who have now lost further ground in the title race and seem to be out of contention. Birkirkara, meanwhile, moved into third place with a convincing 3-0 win over Floriana, but they still have a mountain to climb to challenge the Wanderers.

Floriana and Marsaxlokk both lost again and will now have to fight harder than ever to earn their place in European football next season via the League.

At the other end of the table, in the Relegation Pool, Pieta and Msida shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw which keeps a ‘status quo’ in that sector of the championship.

Sliema Wanderers again had to struggle to win the three points at stake, this time against Marsaxlokk. This week, they even had to come from behind to register a precious win which keeps them three points ahead of second placed Valletta.

But that shows the character of this Sliema side as they overcame what appeared to be a first half crisis to overpower their opponents with a strong second half display.

Sliema’s mentors Edward Aquilina and Hugh Caruana had to reshuffle their defence due to the absences of Kris Laferla, Jeffrey Chetcuti and Brian Said and that was perhaps the main factor behind their slipshod display in the first half, where Marsaxlokk were clearly the better team and even deserved to be in the lead.

In the second half, however, the match had a different story. Sliema pressed their opponents from the very first whistle and not only managed to equalise Ochei’s first half goal for Marsaxlokk, but also went on to snatch the winner through the usual Danilo Doncic.

Marsaxlokk must feel very unlucky to have gone home empty-handed after such an encouraging performance. Yet, they also have to blame themselves for missing some opportunities, especially that which arrived in the final moments to Ivan Zammit who hit wide from only two metres out.

The southern seasiders have produced their best performance so far since the arrival of their newcomers, even though on Sunday they had Andre Schembri missing. But it is obvious that they are still finding the going tougher than they expected and their only remaining hope now is perhaps a third or fourth placing, apart from the Trophy competition.

On Saturday, Valletta also produced a polished display to beat the disappointing Hibernians by three clear goals.

That victory enabled the citizens to maintain the pace with Sliema. And it also helped to put pressure on the Wanderers who now seem to have a more difficult programme on their hands.

In fact, till the end of the first round, Sliema still have to play against Birkirkara, Valletta and Hibernians, while the Citizens still have to face Floriana, Sliema and Birkirkara.

The citizens, however, must thank their star striker Gilbert Agius. He was the main inspiration on Saturday as the Paolites crumbled whenever he had the ball at his feet.

Valletta will certainly be hoping to have Gilbert in all their remaining matches to be able to maintain their strong challenge to Sliema for the title.

The Paolites, on the other hand, were once again disappointing. After having been held to a one-one draw by a 10-man Birkirkara side the previous week, this time they were expected to get back on the winning track to maintain their title challenge.

The heavy defeat means that they have now dropped two places after just two matches and are already eight points adrift of Sliema.

The Paolites’ drop in form has been somewhat amazing in recent weeks – from a serious championship contender to a confused outfit.

In the other match, Birkirkara scored a convincing 3-0 win over a Floriana side which seems to have one big handicap – they have problems in scoring the goals that matter.

The Stripes biggest consolation, however, was the fact that they had most of their injured players – including Roderick Briffa – available once again.

It was evident that Birkirkara were a stronger outfit even though they had to wait till the second half to turn their superiority into goals.

After this win, coach Stephen Azzopardi has a big problem to contend with: Who will he have to leave out of the side, especially in the front line where Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza continues to score important goals regularly?

As to Floriana, it is evident that they will have to hope in a Trophy victory to get a place in Europe after several years.

Their dream is vanishing into thin air after having lost their opening two matches, remaining firmly entrenched to the bottom, the same as Marsaxlokk, who are just one point above them.

Relegation Pool

The Relegation Pool is also being keenly contested as evidenced by the 1-1 draw between Msida and Pieta on Sunday afternoon.

It was a fair result even though the two goals arrived late in the match, Msida taking the lead with 10 minutes to go and Pieta equalising in added time.

But the draw leaves a ‘status quo’ in this sector as Lija and St Patrick have also kept their slim hopes alive.

Player of the Week

Gilbert Agius (Valletta)

Valletta’s star striker Gilbert Agius is my pick this week after his five-star performance in the 3-0 victory against Hibernians on Saturday.

Agius, returning from injury, was in inspiring form for his side, and it is evident that Valletta become a top side whenever he plays for them.

His repertoire on Saturday included one of the best goals seen this season in the Premier League and a helping hand in the two other goals scored by City.

This is not to mention that on several other occasions, he mesmerised the Hibs defence with his mazy dribbling which was certainly a delight to watch.

Coach of the Week

Edward Aquilina (Sliema W.)

My choice this week falls on the Sliema mentor who, together with his assistant Hugh Caruana, managed to turn defeat into a victory in 45 minutes, that is, in the second half of the match against Marsaxlokk.

Having had to reshuffle the defence due to the absence of three regulars, Aquilina’s side was 1-0 in arrears by the end of the first half and the team was nowhere near their usual form.

Yet, in the second half, the introduction of Pernis instead of Mattocks worked wonders as the team played with more commitment in attack, first scoring a great equaliser through Anonam and later also the winner through Danilo Doncic.