Valletta were in a class of their own as they defeated Tarxien Rainbows 7-0 at the Centenary Stadium on Saturday to move on top the BOV Premier League table, one point ahead of Gzira United and Hibernians but the latter two have a game in hand.

Jonathan Caruana, Raed Ibrahim Saleh, Matteo Piciollo and Bojan Kaljevic were named in the starting line-up for Valletta as Ryan Camilleri, Miguel Angel Alba and Bogdan Gavrila were absent while Kyrian Nwoko was named among the substitutes.

On the other hand, for Tarxien, had Anderson de Barros and Jacson de Paixao replacing Gabriel Aquilina and Alex Nilsson

Bojan Kaljevic opened the scoring on the 8th minute as he flicked the ball home past Cassar following a cross by Matteo Piciollo.

Five minutes later, Mario Fontanella doubled the score when he controlled a cross from the right before hitting past the Tarxien goalkeeper.

Matteo Piciollo made it 3-0 on the 25th with an overhead kick following an erratic clearance.

Ten minutes later, Raed Ibrahim Saleh scored the fourth goal when he concluded a solo effort with a fine shot which beat Cassar.

Fontanella scored a fifth goal four minutes from half-time after stealing the ball off the Tarxien defence and hitting low past the Tarxien goalkeeper.

Valletta were awarded a penalty on the 59th minute after Raed Ibrahim Saleh was brought down inside the area with Bojan Kaljevic converting from the penalty spot.

Mario Fontanella scored his third goal three minutes from time, slotting the ball home from close range following a cross from the left by Soussi.

TARXIEN Andrea Cassar, Marco Botta (46′ Matthew Spiteri), Jens Wemmer, Daniel Zerafa, Michele Paolucci (81′ Daniel Vassallo), Andrew Agius, Andre Scicluna, Stefan Radovanovic, Anderson Francisco de Barros, Ricardo Silva Faria, Jacson de Paixao Neponuceno (46′ Gabriel Aquilina).
Subs not used: Maverick Buhagiar, Daren Falzon, Luke Grech, Miguel Ciantar.
Asst. Coach: Saviour Debono Grech

VALLETTA Henry Bonello, Jonathan Caruana, Steve Borg (56′ Zied Soussi), Santiago Malano (80′ Shaun Dimech), Matteo Piciollo, Jean Borg, Enmy Pena Beltre, Raed Ibrahim Saleh, Rowen Muscat, Bojan Kaljevic (68′ Kyrian Nwoko), Mario Fontanella.
Subs not used: Yenz Cini, Kenley Scerri, Russell Fenech, Nicholas Pulis.
Coach: Danilo Doncic

Referee: Andi Koci
Assistant Referees: Endrit Veseli, Erind Burgu
Fourth Official: Bleim Ziri
Yellow Cards: Jacson, Scicluna, Wemmer, De Barros
BOV Player of the Match: Matteo Piciollo
Attendance: