Valletta took a deserved three points at a weathered Tony Bezzina stadium after heavy rainfall on Saturday with goals from Andrea Zammit and Brandon Paiber on either side of the half.
Seven points separated the two sides before the match despite Valletta being just two spots ahead in the standings. The fixture was of significant importance for both sides with Santa Lucia having gained just five points in their last five matches, while Valletta were hoping to continue their positive run after two consecutive wins.
Santa Lucia coach Enzo Potenza made three changes from his first outing last week in a 1-0 loss to Floriana, starting Michael Johnson, Jamie Carbone, and Miguel Alba in place of Zvi Jie, Diego Pacheco, and Liam Blie. As for Valletta, coach Thane Micallef gave the nod to Triston Caruana and Zammit who replaced Jean Borg and Shaun Dimech after the side’s 3-0 win over Zebbug Rangers.
After a cautious start for both sides which saw just one attempt from each team in the first five minutes, Paiber fired the first real chance at goal on eight minutes, but goalkeeper Matthew Calleja Cremona pushed the ball into a corner.