An Edward Herrera goal on 78 minutes was not enough yesterday evening as Malta lost to Bulgaria by the odd goal in three.

For Herrera, it must have been his first ever strike for Malta. Unfortunately for him, it did not help much to lift the spirits of the Maltese as the match ended in yet another narrow defeat.

But once again, the Maltese showed character as they fought back after being two goals down – in fact they should have even scored earlier as they created at least three good chances before the goal. It is enough to mention that we even hit the posts twice during the match.

And reducing the arrears soon after the Bulgarians’ second goal would have left much more space for a stronger reaction by Ghedin’s boys.

In the first half, Malta had an excellent start with two good actions in the opening minutes, but after Bulgaria took the lead with a somewhat fluke goal, the boys in red flopped and rarely moved forward with purpose apart from a freekick by the ‘usual’ Failla through which we went close to an equaliser.

The Maltese were overcrowded in midfield and Gareth Sciberras, Rowen Muscat, Edward Herrera and Ryan Camilleri struggled against the gifted Bulgarians. Moreover, Dimitrov and Gargorov had more than enough space on the two flanks to create a lot of danger for the Malta defence.

In fact, it was from a Dimitrov incursion and cross that the ball landed at the back of the net after goalie Haber tried to turn the ball to corner; instead he unfortunately turned it into his own net.

At that moment, we feared a repetition of the Denmark match where  some glaring mistakes in defence led to that 0-1 defeat last Friday.

In the second half, it was a different story as the Maltese appeared more confident and better organised.

Even after suffering a second goal, they did not throw in the towel and responded magnificently, finally being rewarded with a consolation goal that was greeted with great enthusiasm by the almost 5,000 crowd present.

Malta threatened on the second minute when Mifsud set Herrera on the right, the latter crossed low in front of goal where Andre Schembri was a second too late to connect.

Two minutes later, off a short corner, a Schembri cross went to Andrei Agius whose header just missed the target.

Despite Malta’s efforts, it was Bulgaria who scored. It was a fluke goal. Dyakov advanced on the left flank and crossed into the goalmouth. Haber appeared beaten and in an effort to turn the ball to corner, he was unlucky to turn it into his own net.

Bulgaria grew in confidence and on 13 minutes, it was Milanov who had an effort going wide.

Two minutes later, Malta went close to equalising. Failla’s great freekick was tipped onto the upright and to corner by goalie Mihaylov.

Gargorov also tried his luck from outside the area on 23 minutes, but the ball went over. Soon after, it was Nedelev who tested Haber, but the goalie palmed the ball away.

As the Bulgarians insisted, it was Milanov who had a low shot also going wide.

Three minutes from the interval, a fine Bulgaria move ended with a Popov shot being excellently turned to corner by Haber.

Malta appeared to be a t ransformed side at the start of the second half. On the 52nd minute, it was Andre Schembri who went at least past three players, but was unlucky to see his effort hitting the upright.

In the 58th minute, it was 2-0 as Gargorov again went through on the left. His cross went to Mihaylov whose shot was blocked but it went out again to Gargorov who made no mistake.

Soon after Malta missed a good chance when Herrera advanced on the right and in a 2 v 1 situation, his pass to the unmarked Mifsud was intercepted by the only Bulgarian defender between them.

Five minutes later an Andre Schembri header went over. And an instant later, Schembri set Mifsud but the striker hesitated and his shot was blocked to a corner.

Malta insisted and a Herrera freekick forced Mihaylov into a corner. Soon after Malta was rewarded for its efforts when substitute Vella set Herrera in the area and the Birkirkara player beat Mihaylov with a low shot.

Two minutes from the end, from a Vella cross, Schembri just missed heading the ball in front of goal.

Malta finished the match in a crescendo, but the Bulgarians defended stubbornly to get away with a precious three points.

Coaches’ comments

Pietro Ghedin was very happy especially with Malta’s second half performance. He said that this confirms that we have a good team and we played against one of the top ten teams in Europe yesterday.

Defeat came again in an unlucky manner especially after Malta were twice denied by the woodwork.

Ghedin said that the players were unhappy in the dressing room after the macth but theur believe that they played a good match. Ghedin thanked all his players and supporters.

Bulgarian coach Penev was the first to admit that Malta did not deserve to lose. After Bulgaria’s second goal he knew Malta would make a reaction although theur gallant efforts did not eran them any points.