A fascinating encounter left just about everyone at the National Stadium on the edge of their seats but at the end of it all, it was the City faithful who staged an impromptu celebration party.

Mixed feelings of joy and relief gripped those who have Valletta FC at heart on Monday night after the Whites, long regarded as front-runners to capture the Premier League title, summoned another hearts-on-sleeve kind of fightback to overturn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory.

Coming into their clash with rivals Birkirkara with a five-point cushion over second-placed Marsaxlokk at the top, Valletta would have retained their status as odds-on favourites to become champions even if they lost but they also knew that a win would propel them closer to their target.

For their part, Birkirkara's interest in the title race was minimal but they were keen on winning to strengthen their UEFA Cup bid and complicate Valletta's march to the title. To their credit, the Stripes proved themselves up for the challenge. They grabbed a 55th-minute lead when Davy-Amed Sylla headed into the net from close range but goals by Justin Grioli, Valletta's young right-back, and Sebastian Monesterolo, who had entered the fray as a substitute, swayed the balance in favour of the Citizens.

Monesterolo's last-gasp intervention sent his team-mates and fans in raptures but even the normally ice-cool Paul Zammit was ecstatic.

"I felt like exploding, emotionally, after Seba scored the winner in the last minute of the game," Zammit said. "It's been a long and hard season and we knew that three points from this game would bring us very close to our title objective.

"The title is not ours yet but I feel that, with an eight-point advantage and only three games left, we are in a very strong position."

Zammit was delighted that his players had again shown character to turn the game around late on.

"Not for the first time this season, the players made a strong rally when the chips were down," Zammit said.

"Hitting back from 1-0 down was not easy but my players have character."

Both Zammit and John Buttigieg, his Birkirkara counterpart, faced questions about their team selection in the post-match news conference, particularly on the exclusion from the first team of Monesterolo and midfielder Shaun Bajada.

"The decision to leave Monesterolo out of the first team was for tactical reasons," Zammit explained.

"Our strategy was to have Frank Temile and Ian Zammit pushing forward from wide positions but I wanted to have a central striker who could also drop deep. That's why I chose to put Gilbert Agius in that position.

"Monesterolo didn't start but I know that I can always rely on him to come on and deliver. He's our trump card."

Buttigieg provided a terse answer when asked about Bajada's omission. "This is normal in football," Buttigieg said.

"We have a squad and only 11 men can be on the field. Bajada has played a lot of games for us this season and I made the decision not to include him in the starting formation."

A visibly downcast Buttigieg suggested that his side's failure to defend their lead was down to several factors but bemoaned the manner of Valletta's goals.

"There were many determining factors for our defeat tonight," Buttigieg observed. "Our team suffered in the end because of a lack of experience. In the action that led to Valletta's second goal, we made the mistake of allowing a player to run into the penalty box unchallenged when our opponents were taking a throw-in.

"With regards to Valletta's first goal, the game should have been stopped for a foul on one of our players before they delivered the decisive cross but the referee didn't spot the infringement. However, these things happen in football."

Buttigieg, himself a former Valletta player, said he had expected the Citizens to battle back after they fell behind.

"Valletta have a strong team, they are the leaders of the league and I knew that they would fight back," Buttigieg said. "They put a lot of pressure on our team but in the end, we paid the price for missing chances to score and increase our lead."

Gilbert Agius, who has won every honour in Maltese football and is the captain of the national team, hailed the collective strength of the present City team.

"In my early years with Valletta, I was surrounded with experienced players who, at the time, were the cream of Maltese football," Agius, 34, reminisced.

"This team is different. There are many young players in the squad and our strength lies in the collective work of all the elements in this group. As a player, the last league is always the one you remember most and I'm looking forward to winning the title this year. It will be my first since I became captain of Valletta."

Lino Galea, Birkirkara's captain on Monday, felt the result was cruel with his team.

"In the second half, there were moments when we made some hasty clearances because Valletta were pressing us really hard," Galea said.

"We also got a bit tired in the end because we spent so much energy during the match. Our performance was good but as has happened in virtually every game we've played against Valletta this season, they were somewhat lucky to take the points."