Ħamrun Spartans were the only team to maintain their perfect record in the 360 Sports Malta Premier as the Malta champions battled past Hibernians 2-1.
Opening Round winners Floriana suffered a stunning 2-0 defeat to Melita while Birkirkara were held by a resilient ten-man Gżira United side.
Here is a roundup of all the action from Matchday 18 by SportsDesk.
Hibernians FC (1 – 2) Ħamrun Spartans FC
The Spartans needed to be at their best to overcome Hibernians at the Tony Bezzina Stadium as the Paola fought throughout the whole 90 minutes.
However, the Paolites were let down by their defensive frailties.
Ħamrun took the lead after taking advantage of some poor defensive play and Raphael Lopes Silva fired past goalkeeper Hugo Sacco.
The Spartans doubled the lead after the break when Talison was brought down inside the area by Sacco and Luke Montebello made no mistake from the spot.
Melita FC (2 – 0) Floriana FC
Floriana looked out of sorts against Melita and found themselves behind after two minutes when Matthew Debattista fired the newly-promoted side ahead.
The Greens’ response was sterile and Melita wrapped up the points with a second goal from Kurt Bondin early in the second half.
Birkirkara FC (2 – 2) Gżira United FC
Birkirkara failed to make the most of the second-half dismissal of Gżira defender Enrico Pepe as they could only manage a 2-2 draw.
Gnamien Yikpe put the Stripes ahead after nine minutes but Gżira soon hit back and levelled matters through Luis Riascos.
It looked as though the match had swayed Birkirkara’s way when Pepe was dismissed for two bookings and Maxuell Maia fired the Stripes ahead.
However, Gżira refused to throw in the towel and Lucas Macula earned them a merited point.
Sliema Wanderers FC (4 – 0) Naxxar Lions FC
Sliema Wanderers found little difficulty to brush aside Naxxar Lions 4-0. Vito Plut put the Blues ahead and Maksym Pryadun marked his debut with a goal to make it 2-0.
The Lions never recovered and Sliema sealed the points with goals from Neil Frendo and Myles Beerman.
Marsaxlokk FC (3 – 1) Żabbar St. Patrick FC
Marsaxlokk came from a goal down to beat Żabbar St. Patrick 3-1.
It looked as though the Saints were set for another win when Kristian Keqi fired them in font.
But Marsaxlokk fought back and Yuri Messias equalised from a penalty before Alex De Aguiar came off the bench to score a late brace and hand the points to the southerners.
Balzan FC (3 – 2) Mosta FC
Balzan secured a thrilling 3-2 win over Mosta last Friday.
Mosta took the lead through Giancarlo Goncalves but Balzan levelled matters through Luka Lukovic.
Jan Busuttil put Balzan in front early in the second half but Zachary Brincat looked to have earned a point for Mosta.
But in stoppage time Udo Akpan grabbed the winner for Balzan.
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