We had a full programme of matches this weekend with the Sliema-Birkirkara match on Monday evening being the main attraction.

It proved to be, indeed, the highlight of the programme. Not only did it attract a sizeable crowd to the Stadium terraces, but it also provided those present with some entertaining and pleasant football by both teams, especially Sliema, who meritedly won the encounter, perhaps even more comfortably than the result shows.

The Blues have thus kept their perfect record – four wins from four matches and they have remained the only unbeaten side in the competition.

As already said, Sliema merited their win and even Birkirkara will be the first to admit that they were lucky to have remained in contention till the very end: in fact, they almost snatched what would have been an undeserved equaliser had it not been for that splendid Murphy Akanji save near the end of the match.

The Blues had shown superiority throughout the match, even though Birkirkara had much more possession. But while the Blues scored twice and contrived to miss a good number of chances, the Stripes had very little to show for all their endeavour.

Sliema were tactically and physically superior to the Stripes and their main weapon was their counter-attack which opened wide the Birkirkara defence which is leaking too many goals this season – already seven in four matches.

It is, in fact, the defence, which is the Stripes’ main concern and unless coach Stephen Azzopardi is able to tighten it, then Birkirkara will have problems.

Bogdanovic and Woods were too hot for the Stripes defenders to handle, especially in the first half, when the Sliema duo did what they practically wanted whenever they had the ball at their feet. Moreover, Woods, quite unusually, missed a number of good chances which would have seen his side wrapping up the match earlier.

The improvement in the Birkirkara side in the second half was mainly due to the introduction of Mark Anthony Bonnici on the right flank with Bulgarian Yantchev moving into a central role.

Even so, the left flank of the Birkirkara defence appeared weak as Woods and later Doncic again wreaked havoc, although at a time when Birkirkara were forcing, first to get back into the game, and then for an equaliser.

Hibernians had to struggle much more than expected to beat an improved Hamrun Spartans side on Saturday afternoon.

It had to be a great goal from Andrew Cohen which solved all the Paolites’ problems as they registered their third consecutive victory to keep the pace with Sliema at the top.

Robert Gatt’s boys remain three points behind the leaders, but they have to show consistency throughout the campaign if they are entertaining serious hopes of challenging for the title.

The Spartans produced what must have been undoubtedly their best performance so far this season and it was a case of being unlucky not to have obtained their first point of the season, at least.

However, their performance was a great consolation to coach Michael Degiorgio and the club clan as they can now look to the future with much more optimism, even though they remain anchored at the foot of the table with no points after four matches.

Valletta returned to winning form. In fact, their surprise 3-2 win over Marsaxlokk was their first victory this season in four matches after having collected just one point from their previous three clashes.

And it was even more meritorious when once considers the circumstances in which it was achieved. In fact, they had to take the field without Milen Penchev and had to finish the match without the injured Gilbert Agius, Ian Zammit and the red carded Rene Forace.

This was certainly an encouraging performance by the citizens who will now have to face Sliema on Friday without Agius and Zammit, if not Penchev as well. The former two players will be missed for a long time as they are to remain out of the game for at least six weeks.

Marsaxlokk simply failed to live up to expectations and, at the end, they had to bow down to their first defeat of the season.

Atanas Marinov’s side was expected to fare much better after their explosive opening to the season, but they never appeared to be anywhere close to championship challengers in this match.

Their youngsters will certainly have to grow in stature and gain more experience before being able to punish their opponents.

Msida St Joseph maintained their recent progress with another impressive win, this time a 4-2 victory against Floriana. The Saints are now on six points – it was their second consecutive win after two defeats – and the defeat pushed Floriana to the last from bottom place, just one point from four matches.

Todor Raykov is working wonders for this Msida side which seems to have all the ingredients this season to reach the Top Six and a place in the Championship Pool.

If their Bulgarian mentor manages to tighten his defence, I believe that the Saints can go places this season. Taking a glimpse at their four results so far, the Saints have scored 10 goals and suffered the same number. It means they have the third best attack but also the third worst defence in the competition.

As for Floriana, it is evident that the side is facing a tough year. Having suffered three defeats in four matches, this once famous club is now languishing near the bottom of the standings and it will be difficult for the youngsters in the side to regain their confidence, unless they register a victory quickly.

The Greens have been found wanting at the back and up front. In fact, they have scored just three goals – two of which against Msida – and suffered 10 so far.

The other match of the week saw the plucky Mosta side taking a point off their more seasoned opponents, Pieta Hotspurs, after a thrilling 3-3 draw.

The Premier newcomers were only foiled from obtaining full points with a late equaliser from Pieta goalie Andrew Hogg who went up with his forwards searching for an equaliser and scored!

Pieta must have never expected Mosta to offer such stiff resistance, but this was an eye opener to all the other teams. No team can expect to have many easy matches throughout the season.

Yet, Pieta are in joint third place with Birkirkara and Marsaxlokk on seven points each, while Mosta have joined Valletta on four points.

Player of the Week

Joe Brincat (Sliema W.)

Sliema midfielder Joe Brincat is my pick this week after his five-star display in the match against Birkirkara on Monday evening.

The veteran showed that he is still a master of the game as he continues to play the role of a general which no one else in Malta can perform at present.

Not only, but he also appeared to be quite lively, despite his age, going up with his forwards and even scoring the first goal, thus paving the way for Sliema’s 2-1 victory over their great rivals.

Goal-scorers

5 – D. Doncic (Sliema).

4 – C. Frendo (Marsaxlokk), D. Nwoke (Msida), D. Bogdanovic (Sliema).

3 – C. Sciuto (Pieta), I. Zammit (Valletta), M. Deanov (Pieta), A. Cohen (Hibernians), J. Brincat (Sliema).

2 – S. Giglio (Sliema), M. Calascione, G. Mallia, R. Briffa, M. Galea (Birkirkara), M. Licari, A. Schembri (Marsaxlokk), T. Scerri (Hibernians), G. Spiteri (Hamrun), B. Nisevic (Valletta), U. Nwoko (Mosta), I. Ciantar (Floriana).

1 – W. Camenzuli, A. Zahra, A. Ciantar (Birkirkara), M. Galea, R. Forace (Valletta), I. Woods (Sliema), I. Chibueze, D. Falzon, R. Newell, M. Borg (Mosta), C. Cassar (Floriana), D. Theuma, J. Babatunde, D. Carabott, T. Farrugia, R. Bajada, C. Micallef (Msida), S. Bajada, P. Sciriha (Marsaxlokk), S. Sultana, D. Galea (Hamrun), K. Darmanin, I. Deanov, A. Hogg (Pieta), A. Zahra, H. Doda (Hibernians).

Own goals – I. Deanov (Pieta).

Next matches

(All games at Ta’ Qali)

Friday

7.30pm Valletta-Sliema W.

Saturday

4pm Mosta-Hibernians

6pm Floriana-Hamrun S.

Sunday

4pm Msida SJ-Marsaxlokk

6pm Birkirkara-Pieta H.