Malta succumbed to its third consecutive defeat in the World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign, losing 2-0 to Lithuania in Vilnius.

Displaying more courage than against England three days ago, Malta shared much of the exchanges in the first half, although goal-scoring chances were few at either end.

Lithuania became more adventurous in the second half and, with the Maltese energies fading, the Baltic side scored twice in the last 15 minutes to secure their first victory of the competition.

Cernych headed home the opening goal after 75 minutes, heading home following a corner-kick.

Lithuania did not take long to secure their victory, scoring the second goal from a penalty by Novikovas after a Caruana foul in the penalty area. Caruana was sent off for the offence, the second time that the player was red carded in this competition after his sending off against Scotland.

In other matches from the same group, Slovakia beat Scotland 3-0 while England were held to a goalless draw in Slovenia.