Hibernians returned to winning ways with an important victory that dealt a blow to Sliema’s hopes of securing a Top Six finish at the National Stadium.

 

This win ended a worrying run of back-to-back defeats for Hibernians and marked their second victory in four matches during the Closing Round. Meanwhile, Sliema will find this loss particularly frustrating, as defensive errors gifted Hibernians a goal in each half, leaving coach Paul Zammit with more concerns over his side’s defensive stability.

 

The Blues have now suffered two defeats in the Closing Round, a stark contrast to their strong Opening Round, where they lost just once.

 

Hibernians coach Branko Nisevic made several changes following their 1-0 defeat against Marsaxlokk, with Higor, Pedro Henrique, Lucas Caruana, and Federico Falcone making way for Alex Bruno, Lucas Villela, Mathias Ellul, and Dexter Xuereb.

 

Despite the reshuffled lineup, Hibernians started the game strongly, opening the scoring through Villela. Bjorn Kristensen played a perfect long ball over the halfway line, which the Brazilian controlled before charging into the box and firing past Kelvin Emeka.

 

However, Sliema responded swiftly. Just three minutes later, Vito Plut rose brilliantly in the box to meet a Myles Beerman cross, powering a header past Hugo Sacco to level the score.

 

Hibernians regained the lead in the 24th minute, capitalizing on a mistake from Emeka. The Sliema goalkeeper had strayed off his line, allowing Ilias Apostolos to curl the ball into the net from a tight angle.

 

Early in the second half, Hibernians extended their lead in calamitous fashion for Sliema. Gustavo Alcino lost possession deep in his own half, and Khevin Fraga took full advantage, calmly slotting past Emeka to make it 3-1.

 

Sliema refused to go down without a fight, and substitute Maksym Priadun made an instant impact, scoring just four minutes after coming on to give his side a lifeline.

 

Hibernians had a chance to restore their two-goal cushion in the 70th minute when Bruno found himself one-on-one with Emeka, but the Sliema goalkeeper denied him with a crucial save.

 

With time running out, Sliema pushed forward in search of an equalizer. Beerman came close with a powerful shot that sailed over the bar three minutes from time, while Wescley nearly caught out Sacco with a looping effort, only for the Hibernians goalkeeper to make a decisive save and secure the win for his team.