Luxembourg 0
Malta 2
Malta obtained its first ever victory against Luxembourg thanks to a Michael Mifsud brace which gave manager Pietro Ghedin a positive start on his debut on his second term as Malta national coach.
It was a well deserved victory for the Maltese lads who opened the scored after ten minutes and sealed the issue with a second goal ten minutes from time.
Malta played for half of the match with numerical superiority as Luxembourg were reduced to ten players on 43 minutes when their captain Mario Mutsch received a second booking.
This was the fifth encounter between the two countries with Luxembourg winning on two occassions in 1995 when Malta was under the guidance of Pietro Ghedin. In the other two matches, both freindlies, Malta obtained a 1-1 draw.
The Maltese squad was the better one on the field of play at the Stade Josy Bathel and the boys in red fully deserved their victory. Ghedin started with Andrew Hogg in goal, with Jonathan Caruana and Andrei Agius as central defenders. The defensive set up was completed with Clayton Failla and Alex Muscat on the flanks.
Roderick Briffa and Gareth Sciberras played in front of the defence, giving it the necessary protection. Michael Mifsud was Malta’s most advanced player but was well aided by Daniel Bogdanovic, Andre Schembri and Andrew Cohen who played a blinder as he roamed all over the field of play.
After a slow start Stefano Bensi shot wide from the edge of the area, and the Maltese hit back with a swift move between Michael Mifsud and Andrew Cohen, with the latter shooting slightly wide.
On ten minutes Malta took the lead when Daniel Bogdanovic passed towards Michael Mifsud who darted inside the area and fired in the roof of the net giving Joubart no chance to save.
This goal upset the home side and Malta almost doubled the score two minutes later when Michael Mifsud passed towards the unmarked Andre Schembri who misfired in front of goal.
The Maltese continued to dictate matters as Bogdanovic shot over the bar after a fine solo run, and Michael Mifsud again creating havoc with his speed but his low cross was well saved by goalkeeper Joubert.
Three minutes from the break, the Luxembourg captain Mario Mutsch pulled Cohen’s jersey with the Austrian referee giving him the second yellow.
This was an added boost to the Maltese lads as they tried to control the match in the second half. However two substitutions made by Luxembourg coach Luc Holtz at the start of the second half, created some anxious moments in the Maltese rearguard.
Daniel Da Mota proved to be a rather difficult player to control as his speed and dribbling created some melees in the Malta penalty area. However it must be said that Andrew Hogg was never really tested, apart from a dangerous low drive from other substitute Gilles Bettmer.
However the Maltese recovered from this difficult moment as they regained confidence in the the second part of the second half. Defender Philips failed to clear but Cohen failed to capitalise, whilst a Mifsud header sailed over the bar.
The same Michael Mifsud brought the best out of Jonathan Joubert on 75 minutes with the goalkeeper saving brilliantly the Maltese captain’s shot direct from a freekick.
But ten minutes from time Malta put the issue beyound doubt when Andre Schembri rounded Hoffmann and passed towards Bogdanovic whose cross in front of goal was met by Michael Mifsud who headed home from close range.
Luxembourg - J. Joubart, T. Schnell, D. Colette (M. Janisch), G. Blaise (E. Hoffman), C. Philipps, L. Gerson (G. Bettmer), M. Mutsch, B. Payal (T. Laterza), A. Joachim, S. Bensi (D. Da Mota), C. Leweck (M. Deville)
Malta - A. Hogg, A. Muscat (S. Borg), A. Agius (J. Zerafa)), J, Caruana, G. Sciberras (P. Fenech), R. Briffa, D. Bogdanovic, C. Failla, A. Cohen, A. Schembri (E. Agius), M. Mifsud.
Referee - Markus Hameter (Austria)