MALTA-1, FINLAND-2
Malta surrendered a one-goal lead in a 2-1 defeat to Finland in a friendly match at the National Stadium this evening.
A positive result for Malta in their first outing this year looked well within reach after the home team took a deserved lead through Michael Mifsud who had earlier missed a penalty.
Malta held on their lead by the end of the first half but Finland took matters in hand after the change of ends and two goals in the space of three second-half minutes turned the result in favour of the visitors.
Malta began the match in lively mode. Two minutes into the game, Ryan Fenech's swerving free-kick sailed towards the far post but Agius just failed to make contact with the ball. Another chance came Malta's way on 10 minutes when Roderick Briffa delivered an inviting cross towards Bogdanovic but his central header was easily saved by Peter Enckelman, the Finland goalkeeper.
The hitherto low-key Finland almost forged ahead on 12 minutes when Tim Sparv produced a powerful header from Jari Litmanen's corner with the ball coming off the crossbar. Malta were quick to break on the counter as Mifsud burst clear but his run was stopped just inside the area by Veli Lampi's illegal challenge.
Referee Mauro Bergonzi awarded Malta a penalty but Mifsud's angled shot was tipped away by Enckelman. Mifsud soon made up for his penalty miss as, on 17 minutes, he put Malta ahead with a close-range tap-in after a cross from Andrew Cohen had come off Finnish defender Toni Kallio. Thanks to this goal, Mifsud became Malta's all-time top scorer with 24 goals, one more than Carmel Busuttil.
Finland struggled to make a reaction and had to wait until the final minutes of the opening half to pose some problems to the Malta defence.
On one occasion, Sparv served Jonathan Johansson who sprinted into the box before crossing towards the far post but Kasper Hamalainen was blocked by three Malta players. Seven minutes from half-time, Malta goalkeeper Justin Haber denied Finland an equaliser when pushing out Johansson's close-range attempt.
Malta may have made it 2-0 when Briffa released Mifsud but the latter hit wide when the best option would have been to pass to Bogdanovic on the edge of the box.
Two minutes into the second, Teemu Tainio, who had just entered the pitch, produced a rising shot that crashed against the crossbar. Malta might have made it 2-0 when Briffa's intelligent pass found Bogdanovic who darted clear but his effort from a difficult angle was kept out by the Finland goalkeeper.
Finland equalised on 66 minutes, Eremenko beating Haber from the penalty spot after Malta substitutes Steve Bezzina and Jonathan Caruana were deemed to have tripped Hamalainen in the box.
Three minutes later, Finland nosed ahead. Pokorara was the provider with an excellent cross and Mika Vayrynen glanced the ball downward and into the bottom corner of Haber's goal.
Malta: J. Haber, A. Muscat, A. Agius, R. Fenech, D. Bogdanovic, R. Briffa ('77 T. Cilia), M. Mifsud ('85 S. Bajada), A. Cohen ('65 I. Woods), C. Failla ('52 S. Bezzina), K. Scicluna ('59 J. Caruana), J. Pace ('82 P. Fenech).
Finland: P. Enckelman ('46 O. Fredrikson), V. Lampi, N. Moisander, J. Raitala, R. Eremenko, K. Hamalainen (77 J. Kolkka), J. Litmanen ('46 M. Varyrynen), T. Sparv ('46 T. Tainio), J. Johansson ('83 T. Pukki), R. Porokara, T. Kallio ('57 J. Lyyski).