Floriana and Gżira United ground out a goalless draw which kept both sides unbeaten but at the same time done neither of the Premier league contenders any favours.
Gżira United who are desperate for their first three points of the campaign, having gathered just three points from as many games, had Jefferson’s second-half goal ruled out for foul With Sirens and Senglea losing this weekend, a win for Floriana, would have seen them take sole leadership at the summit of the table, but it was not to be.
Instead, they are now sharing the top spot with Ħamrun and surprise package Sta Lucia.
They only have themselves to blame after having produced a display which had none of the urgency one might have expected.
Clifford Gatt Baldacchino replaced the injured Juan Corbalan in the only change in Gżira’s line up from the 1-1 draw with Sliema. Giovanni Tedesco set his team out in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Martin Davis and Hamed Kone providing support for Jefferson, the Maroons’ lone forward.
His Floriana counterpart, Vincenzo Potenza fielded the same formation that started the derby against Valletta. The tactical module was 4-3-3 with Brandon Paiber and Augusto Caseres playing either side of Kristian Keqi.
Matias Garcia had the first shot of the match, and went close with a curling effort before a lovely triangulation down the inside right by Kone and Zachary Scerri worked an opening for the Maltese midfielder before he fired in a shot, which Ini Akpan beat away after diving low at his far post.
Keqi unleashed an excellent effort shortly after which ended just over the bar. It might have been a different match, had those opening exchanges been maintained for the duration of the match.
After the interval, the pace picked up a little but neither side could create real panic for the other’s defence.
Even when through on goal, the quality of the finishing let the build-up play down.
For Floriana, Caseres shot tamely at Justin Haber and Scerri at the other end, hit wide after a neat build-up between Arthur Oyama and Jefferson.
The tit-a-tat nature of the encounter continued on the hour mark when Venancio’s freekick took a slight deflection but his shot was blocked by Haber.
On the other side, Gianmarco Conti wasted a free-header from Oyama’s corner.
Potenza introduced Tiago Fonseca midway through the second half. Another Floriana substitution followed, Jan Busuttil coming on for Paiber. Tedesco replied with the introduction of Andrew Cohen in lieu of Kone.
And when the Maroons did get ball in the net, referee Alan Mario Sant ruled the goal out. Jefferson who hit the ball behind Akpan looked mystified. The match ended on an unsavoury note for Garcia who received his marching orders by the referee and then Scerri followed him for a second bookable offence.