A controversial 94th minute penalty saved Lithuania yesterday in Kaunas and deprived De Leo's Malta of victory.

Malta played a very good match, brilliant at times against Lithuania and was heading for victory after Satariano had scored some minutes earlier. But the referee's late decisions, the sending off of Jake Azzopardi and the awarding of the penalty, shifted the balance of the match giving Lithuania a great helping hand.

But apart from the disappointment of the last minutes of the match, the Maltese should be proud after a very solid performance where all gave their all in one of the best performances ever on foreign soil.

De Leo was forced to do some changes with Teuma and Camenzuli injured, and with Matthew Guillaumier suspended. St Etienne striker Irvin Cardona was making his debut for Malta and Chouaref was making a welcome return after serving a two-match ban.

Bonello came to Malta's rescue in the second minute when Torino's Gineitis easily made his way inside the Malta area but Bonello's daring and timely sortie saved the boys in red.

After this early scare the Malta side settled down controlling the game but never dangerous up front. 

On ten minutes Upstas hit the side netting from an acute angle  and five minutes later Paulauskas tested Bonello with a low drive.

Alex Satariano and Paul Mbong risked a lot with reckless and useless tackles in midfield, luckily getting away with just a yellow card. On 31 minutes Bonello made another good save off a Gineitis freekick.

Malta's first attempt on 34 minutes when Cardona passed towards Joseph Mbong who shot slightly over the bar. Malta went close again on 37 minutes with a move started by Chouaref on the right who served Paul Mbong who was denied by a great save by the Lithuania goalkeeper and from the rebound Satariano's header was blocked off the goal line by Tutyskinas.

On 39 minutes Dolznikov's long-range effort surprised Bonello but the shot went wide. Malta dominated the final minutes of the first half pushing the Lithuanians inside their own area. 

In the final seconds Bonello stopped Dolznikov  with a well-timed sortie and on the other end Paul Mbong tested Gertmonas with a central drive.

Only one change at the break by De Leo, with Corbolan entering for Beerman. 

Lithuania started the second half like a house on fire with the Maltese taking some time to re-settle down. Malta had another lucky escape on 62 minutes following a tackle inside our penalty area, but luckily the referee and the VAR did not take action.

On 72 minutes Malta created three scoring opportunities in quick succession with Alex Satariano missing a sitter in front of goal. However Satariano made amends on 83 minutes when he drilled home from close range a Magri Overend cross.

In the first minute of stoppage time Malta was down to ten men when substitute Jake Azzopardi was shown a straight red in a very harsh and debatable decision. 

But the worse was yet to come as on 94 minutes the referee took another controversial decision awarding Lithuania a life saving penalty after a Zach Muscat tackle. 

From the penalty spot Gineitis beat Bonello, who almost blocked his shot, as Malta was deprived of a legitimate victory.

The two teams had also shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw at Ta' Qali earlier this year.