Malta fades out in second half as Slovakia gain second place
Malta suffered yet another defeat in Trnava yesterday going down 3-0 against Slovakia who earned second place in the group following Slovenia’s draw with Scotland in Ljubljana.
After a diligent first half in which the Maltese gave little or no space to their opponents, on the resumption however Slovakia increased their tempo and the Maltese gradually faded out suffering an avoidable second goal that made it much easier for the Slovaks.
Pietro Ghedin in his last match at the helm made practically started with the same line up that faced Lithuania at Ta’ Qali on Thursday, with Andrei Agius switched to the heart of the defensive setup to replace the suspended Zach Muscat and with Ryan Fenech back in midfield after missing the Lithuania match due to suspension. In attack a bandaged Andre Schembri managed to make it to form partnership with Effiong who was however once again completely isolated upfront.
As expected Slovakia went on the offensive in search of an early goal, but the Maltese were well organised and Slovakia had no clear cut chances in front of goal in the opening quarter of the match.
Slovakia’s only efforts came from Duda and Nemec with both shots off target. Effiong tried a rare break but his ball control was not the best and a good opportunity was lost.
On 24 minutes a Weiss freekick sailed over the bar and three minutes the locals had a lucky escape when Hogg completely failed to kick a Steve Borg back pass but luckily for Malta the ball went wide for a corner.
On 29 minutes Alfred Effiong had another good run on the left with his effort from an acute angle hitting the side netting.
On 33 minutes Slovakia broke the deadlock when Hamsik outplayed the Malta defence with a fine pass towards Nemec who slotted past Hogg on the far post.
Five minutes from the break Ryan Camilleri almost committed an own goal in an attempt to anticipate Nemec, and from the resultant corner Skriniar headed over the bar. Hogg saved the last shot of the first half blocking a Rusnak effort.
Nine minutes into the second Andrew Hogg mad a brilliant save off a point blank shot from Skriniar following another corner action.
On 62 minutes Malta suffered a second goal which could have easily been avoided, when Joseph Zerafa tried to dribble past Skriniar outside the Malta penalty area, with Skriniar passing towards Nemec who beat Hogg for a second time with a precise grounder.
Eight minutes later Slovakia scored a third goal when Rusnak went through on the right flank before passing towards Duda who fired home from close range.
With Slovenia turning the tide against Scotland the mood in Bratislava turned into a festive one with the locals in search of more goals and with Hogg denying Duda from close range. In stoppage time Mihailik’s shot just missed the base of the upright by a whisker.