Malta undone by soft goals
Malta 0Austria 2Aigner 11, 48 The Maltese ladies put on a resilient display in their home qualifier against Austria yesterday but their hopes of gaining a positive result were undone by two soft goals. Malta looked at ease in a 5-4-1 formation as coach...
Malta 0
Austria 2
Aigner 11, 48
The Maltese ladies put on a resilient display in their home qualifier against Austria yesterday but their hopes of gaining a positive result were undone by two soft goals.
Malta looked at ease in a 5-4-1 formation as coach Pierre Brincat sought to provide extra cover on the flanks - his side's Achilles heel in the 13-0 rout against Spain.
The Austrian girls started brightly. After 11 minutes, Nina Aigner burst into the penalty area on to a through ball by Corina Wenninger and poked the ball past Michelle Zahra.
Malta's first notable move saw Emma Xuereb race towards the Austrian goal but goalkeeper Jasmin Pfeiler dived at the Gozitan player's feet.
A minute later, Dorianne Theuma caused panic in the Austria box before the visitors cleared the ball. From the ensuing corner, taken by Theuma, Rebecca D'Agostino headed over.
Austria should have doubled their lead towards the end of the half when Marlies Hanschitz's drive was deflected towards Aigner but the latter's effort came off the post.
The Austrians began the second half with great intensity, pushing forward in a bid to put the game beyond the Maltese.
Three minutes into the second half, Austria went 2-0 when Hanschitz returned the ball to Aigner who finished a neat passing move by rifling the ball home from the edge of the box.
That second goal took the sting out of the game and the second half was something of a formality as Austria comfortably administered their lead. Five minutes from the end, Malta skipper Rebecca D'Agostino denied Isabella Grossinger with an excellent tackle.
"I'm disappointed with the way we suffered the goals but absolutely delighted with the team's performance," Malta coach Brincat said after the game.
"I could not have asked more from the girls."
Malta
M. Zahra, K. Parnis, R. D'Agostino, R. Theuma, Y. Carabott, R. Cuschieri ('87 C. Vella White), R. Chircop, C. Camilleri, M. Debono, C. Zammit, E. Xuereb ('56 C. Saliba).
Austria
J. Pfeiler, S. Koch, S. Holler, C. Wenniger ('87 T. Kneisz), S. Spieler, M. Hanschitz, S. Puntigam ('46I. Grossinger), N. Prohaska, I. Berger, K. Entner, N. Aigner ('79 M. Rappold).
Referee: Paula Thorn (Sweden).
Standings: Spain 9; England, Austria 3; Turkey, Malta 0.