Malta pays price for soft goal in balanced match

Malta 0
Armenia 1

Malta returned to the scene of their marvellous 2-2 draw with Turkey to confront Armenia in a friendly match yesterday.

Expectations for this warm-up were conspicuously lower than Saturday's much-hyped Victory Day skirmish with the Turks but still, the Maltese players had been encouraged by coach Dusan Fitzel, Malta FA president Joe Mifsud and the press to keep the positive momentum going.

In a dull first half, there was little between the two sides but a soft goal after 26 minutes left Malta facing an uphill struggle to record their second positive result on the trot.

The Maltese players worked hard in their attempt to get back into a match in which they played at a par if not better than their opponents but having little chance to use their favourite weapon, i.e. counter-attacks, against the vigilant Armenians, Fitzel's men were scarcely effective going forward.

It was only in the last 15 minutes of the match that Malta, after a succession of substitutions by the national coach, assembled a bout of sustained pressure but their efforts posed little real danger to their opponents.

There were mixed showings from Fitzel's supporting cast but what will have worried the coach most is the team's toils to create scoring chances. Striker Michael Mifsud was certainly missed as were the likes of Jamie Pace and Brian Said who played no part in the match.

Flags flew at half-mast at the National Stadium yesterday following the death of Ian Porterfield, the Armenia national coach, on Tuesday. The visiting players wore black armbands and a minute's silence in memory of Porterfield, who guided Armenia to a series of excellent results in the past year, was impeccably observed before kick-off.

Not surprisingly, given Fitzel's pre-match declarations, the starting Malta team was a mix-up of first-choice and fringe players. Captain Gilbert Agius, yesterday earning his 104th cap for Malta, was one of only five players from Saturday's starting line-up to be confirmed in Fitzel's first XI yesterday.

Goalkeeper Mario Muscat deputised for Justin Haber, Roderick Briffa switched from right-midfield to right-back in a four-man defence comprising Luke Dimech, Josef Mifsud and Steve Wellman.

With Pace suspended for the away qualifier against Hungary next month, Fitzel elected to partner Agius with Peter Pullicino with Cleaven Frendo and Kevin Sammut assigned wide positions on the left and right side of Malta's midfield.

Ivan Woods, mostly used as a midfielder by the present Malta coach, was given the unenviable task of stepping into Mifsud's boots as a roaming forward behind Andrè Schembri.

The opening exchanges were scrappy although Malta were, by and large, slightly better than their opponents.

The clock was showing 21 minutes of the game played when Malta manufactured their first notable chance.

Sammut made good progress down the right before sending in a fine cross towards the six-yard box where Woods rose well to connect with the ball but his header finished over.

Moments later, Frendo, one of the latest additions to the national squad, was wide with a direct free-kick.

Close to the 25th minute, Muscat was called to push away an in-swinging corner by Yeghishe Melikyan but in their next raid, Armenia broke the deadlock.

A low cross rolled into the path of Artur Voskanyan who turned the ball past Muscat from point blank. The assist for Armenia's first goal came from the player wearing the no. 6 shirt who, strangely, was not in the teamsheet handed to journalists before the match.

Malta responded with an Agius free-kick which flew just over but thereafter, their reaction was sterile.

At half-time Fitzel made his first three substitutions, bringing on Ian Azzopardi, Etienne Barbara and Terence Scerri for Wellman, Frendo and Schembri.

Sammut, one of the most enterprising Malta players in the first half, exchanged quick passes with Woods and dallied his way past a clutch of opponents but his final effort from a central position lacked power and precision.

With Malta failing to take advantage of a corner, Armenia were quick to break on the counter on 54 minutes. Levon Pachajyan advanced down the right before lofting a cross towards the far post where Melikyan's volley was saved by Muscat.

Scoring chances were hard to come by for much of the next 20 minutes with the Maltese players toiling to find holes in the well-oiled Armenia defence.

With 20 minutes of the game remaining, Muscat did well to palm away a twirling corner-kick from substitute Aghvan Mkrtchyan.

At last Malta fashioned a goal attempt 14 minutes from time when Andrew Cohen, another second-half substitute, delivered a set-piece cross but Scerri's header was off target.

Malta should have drawn level nine minutes from time when the tireless Agius set up Barbara who managed to get behind Armenia's defence down the inside-right channel but the low cross from the Sliema forward went astray.

Malta: M. Muscat, S. Wellman ('46 I. Azzopardi), L. Dimech ('75 A. Xuereb), G. Agius ('82 K. Scicluna), R. Briffa, P. Pullicino, I. Woods, K. Sammut ('63 A. Cohen), A. Schembri ('46 T. Scerri), J. Mifsud, C. Frendo ('46 E. Barbara).

Armenia: F. Hakobyan, S. Hovscpyan, K. Dokhoyan, A. Tatevosyan, R. Arzumanyan, L. Pachajyan ('75 V. Minasyan), A. Voskanyan, A. Arakelyan, Y. Melikyan ('65 A. Mkrtchyan), A. Hakobyan ('82 A. Minasyan), S. Melkonyan ('69 A. Avetisyan).

Referee: Charles Richmond (Scotland).

Scorer: Voskanyan 26.

Yellow card: Azzopardi.

Malta Players' ratings
Muscat-6.5, Wellman-5.5, Dimech-6, Agius-6.5, Briffa-5, Pullicino-6, Woods-6, Sammut-6.5, Schembri-5.5, Mifsud-5.5, Frendo-5.

Subs: Azzopardi-6; Barbara-5.5; Scerri-6; Cohen-6.5; Xuereb; Scicluna.