Hamrun Spartans were in a class of their own as they came from behind to beat Balzan 7-1 at the National Stadium on Saturday.
For the Spartans, this was the fifth successive win which ensures they remain three points clear ahead of Floriana although they await the decision of the Protests Board following the protest filed by Hibernians over the eligibility of Christian Rutjens.
Meanwhile for Balzan, who had Jan Busuttil making his debut following his move from Floriana, this was a highly disappointing result.
Ironically, Balzan took the lead on the 11th minute when Olivier Rommens released Aleksandar Katanic on the right and the latter beat Henry Bonello with an angled shot.
Hamrun, however, levelled matters on the 20th, courtesy of a Luke Montebello penalty after Ryan Camenzuli was brought down inside the area by Triston Caruana.
Four minutes later, the Spartans forged ahead when off an assist from the right by Jonny, Uros Djuranovic beat goalkeeper Danilo Golovic with a fine rising shot from the edge of the area.
One minute in the second half, Uros Djurnaovic stole the ball off Nikola Braunovic and lobbed the ball over Golovic to make it 3-1.
On the 57th minute, following a good move by Jonny on the right, he delivered a cross and Luke Montebello slammed the ball home from close range.
Hamrun scored the fifth goal on the 72nd minute when Seth Paintsil concluded a good move on the right with a shot which hit the crossbar with Roko Prsa hitting home off the rebound.
One minute in added time, Hamrun were awarded another penalty after Luke Montebello was floored inside the area by Ivan Bozovic and the Malta international striker duly converted.
A minute later, Luke Montebello scored his fourth goal tapping the ball home from close range after a corner by Roko Prsa from the right was not held by Golovic.