Malta earned its first point in the qualifiers of the 2022 World Cup, holding Slovakia to a 2-2 draw in Trnava after yet another brilliant performance by Devis Mangia’s boys. The Maltese had a dream start building a two-goal cushion inside the first twenty minutes of the match. Malta were superior in the first half controlling the opponents with relative ease.
At the start of the second half Malta suffered two quick goals and passed through some anxious moments, but then recovered well to share the exchanges and even create further scoring chances to a earn a precious and well deserved point.
As hinted in the pre-match press conference Devis Mangia made some changes from the initial eleven that started the match against Russia. Enrico Pepe played instead of Andrei Agius in defence, with Pepe forming the defensive trio with Steve Borg and Kurt Shaw. Joseph Mbong and Ryan Camenzuli were confirmed on the flanks.
The other three changes adopted by Mangia were Luke Gambin playing instead of Bjorn Kristensen, and in attack Alex Satariano and Paul Mbong started instead of Jurgen Degabriele and Luke Montebello.
Slovakia had the first opportunity after eight minutes with Duris heading well over the bar from an ideal position. The Maltese tried to continue were they left against Russia but Slovakia’s high pressure on the Maltese made it extremely difficult for the Maltese players to move around with the ball.
On 16 minutes Malta took the lead when Luka Gambin scored a beauty from the edge of the area with the ball finishing in the top corner of the net for a great goal. Four minutes later Malta doubled the score with yet another great move started from defence and with Camenzuli crossing towards Satariano who headed magnificently home.
On 27 minutes a golden opportunity for Slovakia when Duris in a highly dubious offside position came face to face with Bonello, but his shot was luckily and incredibly wide. Malta suffered some pressure in the late stages of the first half, but the Maltese players held their ground, keeping their shape and never booting the ball away.
At the start of the second half Mangia did not make any changes but our opponents introduced two new strikers Strelec, and Bozenik, in their efforts to get back in the game. These substitutions were immediately rewarded as Strelec headed home from close range on 49 minutes.
Malta was now in apparent difficulty and on 53 minutes Slovakia drew level when from a corner action the completely unmarked Skriniar headed home. Two minutes later Malta almost regained the lead when from a Camenzuli cross, Satariano’s header just missed the base of the upright.
On the hour Teddy Teuma saved the Malta side when he blocked a certain goal on the goal line. It was now a completely different game with the Maltese in apparent difficulty. Teuma was again on the right spot to block a Suslov header destined for the back of the net.
Half way through the second half Mangia made the first two changes with Nwoko and Jake Grech coming in for Paul Mbong and Luke Gambin. On 76 minutes another good move by the boys in white with Jake Grech testing Kuciak with a fierce drive. Two minutes later another good move by Malta with Nwoko’s shot again saved by Kuciak.
Photos: Mark Zammit Cardona
