Georgia - Malta 1-0

Malta: Justin Haber, Jonathan Caruana, Carlo Mamo, Gareth Sciberras (R. Fenech), Andrei Agius, Roderick Briffa, Michael Mifsud, Andrew Cohen (M. Grima), Sean Bajada, Andre Schembri (P. Fenech), Jamie Pace.

Georgia: N. Revishvili, L. Salukvadze, M. Asatiani, K. Kaladze, A. Amisulashvili, Z. Khizanishvili, G. Gogua, J. Ananidze (M. DAnishvili), G. Merebashvili (D. Siradze), L. Kobiashvili, V. Dvalishvili (A. Iashvili).

Referee: N. Black (N. Ireland).

Malta suffered its third consecutive defeat in the qualifying round yesterday evening in Tbilisi when it went down to home side Georgia who scored a last gasp goal to register their first win after two draws.

It was a real pity that Malta had to lose all the three points in such a dramatic manner after Buttigieg’s boys had given their all throughout the whole match. And a few minutes before that goal, it could have been Malta snatching a goal as Andre Schembri had his close range shot blocked by the Georgian goalie.

As it is, it was another huge disappointment, perhaps even worse than the others, considering the circumstances and how close the team was to obtaining a very prestigious away point.

As was widely expected, national coach John Buttigieg preferred Haber’s return between the posts as well as Andre Schembri in the front line. The former took the place of Andy Hogg, while Schembri was replacing the suspended Daniel Bogdanovic.

In the first half, play was rather tedious and boring with Georgia dominating possession and Malta operating on the break.

Actions were few and far between as Malta defended with purpose and never allowed the Georgian strikers to have a serious pot at goal.

In fact, only once Haber was in some difficulty as he had to punch away the ball from a hard shot from the distance by Gogua, Georgia’s best player.

The rainy evening made the pitch conditions slippery and it was not easy to control the ball as one would have wished.

Malta’s tactics were obvious as Briffa, Cohen, Pace and Mamo always tried to give that long ball to the speedy Michael Mifsud who was, however, well marked by the Georgian defence.

In the second half, the Georgians pressed harder, but Malta kept fighting bravely on and only succumbed (quite unfortunately) in the final moments of a match they never deserved to lose.

The match had a rather quiet start and Malta was not going through any difficult moment. But after 22 minutes, Haber was called upon to effect a punching save off a long distance effort from Gogua.

Then came a good patch by Malta. On 24 minutes, from a Bajada corner, Caruana headed over the bar. Moments later, Briffa’s pass to Schembri was a bit too long and the goalie saved without any difficulty.

Then it was Schembri who went past two defenders only to lose control of the ball with his final touch as he entered the Georgian area.

On the 33rd minute, Dahlishvili saw his header being saved by Haber. The first half ended without any other notable incident.

At the start of the second half, Georgia increased their pressure on the Malta goal, but the home side could not penetrate as Caruana, Agius, Mamo, Briffa and the rest played their hearts out.

Georgia went closest to scoring on 70 minutes when a Gogua header went just wide, but Malta missed the best opportunity till that moment, when on 78 minutes, Mifsud set Schembri in the area, but the goalie managed to somehow block the ball miraculously.

Then, at the bother end, Asatiani ran through the Malta defence on the left flank, but his dangerous cross was cleared in extremis to a corner.

Georgia pressed hard for a goal, but Malta defended stoutly until the 91st minute when from a long cross into the Malta area, it was substitute David Siradze who rose highest to head past Haber and into the net to the delight of the home crowd.