Goals from Brenda Borg and Haley Bugeja propelled Malta to a deserved 2-0 win over Israel in their final European Championships Qualifiers match.

Malta coach Mark Gatt named an unchanged starting lineup from Malta’s previous game against Georgia last Thursday, which Malta won 4-0.

A win against Israel would have been enough to see Malta leapfrog them into 4^th in the group of 6 countries – a record high for Maltese women’s football.

However Israel – who came into this game with the same amount of points as Malta but with a game less – were on paper a harder nut to crack than Malta’s previous opponents.

Nonetheless, it took only 15 minutes for Malta to open the score.  Starlet Haley Bugeja – who lit up the Georgia game with an historic hat-trick – threaded a wonderful ball through to Mgarr striker Brenda Borg, who had no difficulty in finishing past Israeli goalkeeper Cohen.

Malta made one change during the break, with Maria Farrugia replacing Dorianne Theuma.

Seven minutes into the second half, Israel found themselves down to 10 players, after Kuznezov was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Almost on the stroke of the hour, Bugeja doubled Malta’s lead after latching onto a second-post cross from Borg, cutting inside a defender, and then just about managing to finish the ball past Cohen.

Ylenia Carabott, Emma Xuereb, and Martina Borg came on for Borg, Alishia Sultana, and Bugeja respectively as the game drew to a close.

The win means that Malta conclude their European Championship commitments in a record-high fourth place, with 10 points to their name – also a record high.

It is also the second cleansheet in a row for the team, as Malta’s footballing stature continues to take an upward trajectory.

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Starting Lineup for Malta:

Janice Xuereb (GK), Emma Lipman, Stephania Farrugia, Dorianne Theuma (C), Rachel Cuschieri, Alishia Sultana, Shona Zammit, Charlene Zammit, Brenda Borg, Nicole Sciberras, Haley Bugeja.

Substitutes Bench:

Patricia Ebejer (GK), Maya Lucia, Martina Borg, Ylenia Carabott, Veronique Mifsud, Maria Farrugia, Jade Flask, Kayleigh Chetcuti, Emma Xuereb.

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Photo: Alan Schieber