Malta                   0
Georgia               1

An 89th minute penalty by Guran Kashia have 10-man Georgia a narrow 1-0 win against Malta yesterday evening at the Silberstadt Arena.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Ray Farrugia's boys after having seemed to be well on the way to secure a second consecutive draw in this Austrian training camp.

Despite being dominated for long stretches, Malta held on courageously at the back, but rarely found ways and means of how to trouble the opposing defence

Coach Ray Farrugia made four changes from the team that started the 1-1 friendly draw against Armenia on Tuesday.

Henry Bonello went in for Andrew Hogg in goal, Ryan Camilleri, who recovered from a minor injury, replaced Ferdinando Apap, Joseph Mbong earned his first start after making his debut on Tuesday with Stephen Pisani making way and Myles Beerman started ahead of Kyrian Nwoko.

The Maltese had to suffer a lot of pressure from the Georgians, who appeared to be superior after taking control of midfield.

They attacked consistently, but Farrugia's boys defended stubbornly and did quite well at the back with Agius and Camilleri dominating the central approaches, in front of goalie Bonello.

Rarely did Malta move upfield as Alfred Effiong was left isolated up front - so much so that our first and only effort on goal in the first half came from a Beerman freekick that was saved with ease by the Georgia goalie. Michael Mifsud was rarely in the picture up front - he was mainly seen giving a helping hand to the defence.

In the second half, Malta failed to take advantage of having a man more when Gviria was shown a red card on 54 minutes.

There seemed to be little cohesion between the defence, midfield and up front as many balls were lost either through bad passing or faulty clearances. It was appalling, at times, to see our players fighting bravely for the ball and then lose it immediately after through carelessness.

In the 6th minute, Bonello did well to intercept a dangerous low cross from Zivzidavze.

On 10 minutes, it was Bonello again who denied the Georgians the lead, saving a dangerous shot from Lob.

Georgia was close to taking the lead on 18 minutes, when from a Kashia freekick, the unmarked Lobjanidze headed against the crossbar and Ryan Camilleri managed to clear to corner.

Soon after, a fine Georgia move ended with another effort from Lobjandize which, however, went well wide of the Malta post.

Malta had only one shot at goal in the first half - a 35th minute freekick from Myles Beerman which ended straight into the waiting hands of goalkeeper Roid Kvasakhvadze.

On 38 minutes, it was Zivzidavze who concluded a melee in front of the Malta goal with a shot that went wide.

Malta enjoyed numerical advantage on 54 minutes when Georgia's Valeriane Gviria was shown a second yellow card and was dismissed.

Soon after, from a Beerman freekick, Camilleri's header was partially saved by the goalie, but the ball was cleared to an abortive corner.

In the 80th minute, a Zerafa low cross was cleared in extremis before Kyrian Nwoko could connect in front of goal.

Five minutes from the end, Agius had a freekick going over the post and moments later, it was Zerafa who advanced on the left, only to see his final effort being blocked by the diving Georgian goalie.

When everything pointed to a scoreless draw, it was Steve Borg who tripped Khocholava in the area in a swift counterattack. The official did not hesitate to order the maximum penalty from which Guran Kashia beat Bonello.

Malta

Henry Bonello, Joseph Zerafa, Steve Borg, Ryan Camilleri, Paul Fenech (J. Grech), Roderick Briffa (D. Vella), Andrei Agius, Myles Beerman (L.Gambin), Alfred Effiong (J. Degabriele), Michael Mifsud (K. Nwoko), Joseph Mbong.