Hibernians and Valletta shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at the National Stadium on Sunday.

For the Paolites, this was the third consecutive positive result after the back-to-back wins over Floriana and Tarxien. On the other hand, Citizens, who were eager to bounce back from the defeat to Gzira, could only take home one point from this clash.

Both coaches made several changes from their last outing as Andrei Agius, Edafe Uzeh and Shola Shodiya replaced Zachary Grech, Ayrton Attard and Rundell Winchester. Valletta, on the other hand, had Leandro Aguirre, Eslit Sala, Taisei Marukawa and Mario Fontanella replacing Mihailo Jovanovic, Matteo Piciollo, Kyrian Nwoko and Taylon.

Valletta took the lead five minutes from the end of the first half when off an assist by Shaun Dimech for Taisei Marukawa, the latter’s angled shot, deflected by Edafe Uzeh, beat Calleja Cremona.

Hibernians equalised on the 63rd minute when they were awarded a penalty after Jake Grech was brought down inside the area by Henry Bonello and from the penalty spot, Jake Grech made no mistake.