Hamrun Spartans scored a goal towards the end of each half to beat Birzebbuga St. Peter’s 2-0 in a match from the VBET Malta Premier Opening Round league phase at the Victor Tedesco Stadium on Friday.
Birzebbuga showed greater determination during the first half but a soft goal just before half-time put the Spartans ahead. Hamrun were clearly a better side after the break and after hitting the upright, sealed the issue with a second goal late in the game.
For Hamrun, this was the third consecutive positive result and the second successive win while for Birzebbuga, this was the fifth defeat in as many matches.
Assistant coach Claude Carbonaro, who is leading the team before the arrival of new coach Luis Santana, made four changes from their previous game as Miguel Azzopardi, Zachary Cassar, Luis Riascos and Gabriel Costa replaced Pietro Tomaselli, Juan Bolanos, Jacob Walker and Shaun Dimech. On the other hand, for Hamrun, Vincenzo Polito was preferred to Kean Scicluna.
Hamrun managed to take the lead three minutes from the end of the first half thanks to a shot by Matthew Guillaumier from outside the area which was not held by goalkeeper Mattia Chiesa to end at the back of the net.
Seven minutes from time, Damir Ceter hit the upright with a header from close range but the Spartans were not to be denied on 89 minutes as Ante Coric beat goalkeeper Chiesa with a great free kick from the left.