Benayoun treble floors Malta

Israel 3
Benayoun 8, 64 pen., 76
Malta 1
Pace 38

For a very short period late in the first half, Malta dared to dream. Pitched in a confrontation with Israel at the Ramat Gan Stadium, Malta had jolted their opponents when Jamie Pace wiped out Yossi Benayoun’s opener for the hosts.

Having repelled a succession of Israeli raids, the Maltese players had good reason to be upbeat about their chances of opening their Euro 2012 qualifying trek with a commendable result but their luck ran out in the second period.

Benayoun was the catalyst of Israel’s opening victory yesterday as the Chelsea playmaker scored a hat-trick to put battling Malta to the sword. Not that the Maltese deserved any better.

Although their chances of frustrating an Israeli team hellbent on enjoying a perfect lift-off to their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign were slim, Malta did little to bolster their chances as, for long stretches, their showing lacked any semblances of creativity and cohesion.

That Malta went in at half-time on level terms was down to sheer luck as our elite players had struggled to recover from an uneasy start and never came remotely close to countering Israel, albeit on this evidence, the latter have a mountain to climb to advance to the finals.

With the season still in its infancy, the majority of Maltese players looked rusty, especially in midfield and on the flanks where Israel were at their most dangerous. There were moments when Malta did show some improvement, especially in the latter part of the first half and the early stages of the second, but they simply didn’t do enough to merit a better result.

Buttigieg made no alterations from the team that started last month’s friendly match against Macedonia. Hibs’ flank defender Edward Herrera received Buttigieg’s nod at right-back ahead of Manny Muscat.

Andrew Hogg retained his place in Malta’s goal with Andrei Agius and Jonathan Caruana taking up the two centre-half roles and Carlo Mamo deployed at left-back.

The onus of curbing the flair of the likes of Benayoun and Eran Zehavi fell on the experienced Pace and Gareth Sciberras whose inclusion yesterday came as no surprise in light of the impressive harrying shift he put in against Macedonia.

On the wings, Buttigieg pinned his hopes on Roderick Briffa and Shaun Bajada, two of the most skilful players in the Malta squad. Daniel Bogdanovic partnered Michael Mifsud in attack.

Barely two minutes from the start of the game had passed when Malta survived an almighty scare. A dipping left-wing cross from Dedi Ben Dayan looped over a clutch of Malta defenders and reached the unmarked Benayoun at the far post. The Israel captain fired the ball into the net but Benayoun was adjudged to have controlled the ball with his hand.

Tearing into Malta from the outset, Israel didn’t have to wait long to open the scoring. On seven minutes, Ben Dayan advanced on the left before guiding the ball to Lior Refaelov who dragged the ball back for Benayoun who dispatched a low shot past Hogg.

Energised by their early breakthrough, the home team continued to push forward. Refaelov was wide with a low shot and Ben Sahar volleyed over after latching onto a long ball from defence.

The threat posed by Refaelov on the left was evident when, on 18 minutes, the dynamic Israeli playmaker breezed past the struggling Herrera, charged clear and picked out Benayoun. Having timed his run towards the box to perfection, Benayoun threw the Malta defence off balance with a series of feints before hitting a grounder that was repelled by Hogg. The loose ball rolled to Sahar but his attempt was blocked by Caruana.

With Malta showing no signs of attacking life, Israel maintained a stranglehold on the proceedings. On 24 minutes, Hogg did well to parry away Ben Dayan’s menacing effort from long range.

Mifsud, who was supposed to be monitored by scouts of Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa yesterday, briefly interrupted Israel’s dominance when his pressure forced Israel to concede a corner but Bogdanovic, who had been teed up by Bajada, overhit his cross.

Just past the half-hour mark, Malta forced two successive corners, the first after Tal Ben Haim miscued his clearance from a Mamo cross.

The first flowing move by Buttigieg’s men paid instant dividends eight minutes from half-time.

Bogdanovic passed to Sciberras who quickly switched the ball to Bajada. The Gozitan midfielder’s run caused trouble to Israel who conceded a free-kick. Briffa delivered an excellent set-piece cross towards the far post and Pace directed his downward header onto the base of the post and into the net.

Almog Cohen almost restored Israel’s lead but his piledriver cannoned off the crossbar. Two minutes from half-time, Israel came close again when Refaelov’s cross from a corner reached Ben Haim whose close-range effort was deflected away for a corner by Hogg.

Israel’s failure to translate their early superiority into more goals and Malta’s unlikely equaliser led some of the home fans to boo their players as French referee Said Ennjimi blew the half-time whistle.

Buttigieg made no changes at half-time. Four minutes into the second period, Andrei Agius executed an excellent clearance as he soared into the air to intercept a right-wing cross from Dani Bondar before Sahar could conclude from routine distance.

In next to no time, Hogg was diving at the feet of the advancing Sahar as Israel intensified their efforts to put their noses back in front.

Biram Kayal went close when receiving Refaelov’s cut-back but his first-timer was diverted for a corner.

Israel’s optimism soared on 63 minutes when, after another spell of sustained pressure, they won a penalty after substitute Andrew Cohen was harshly adjudged to have pushed his namesake, Almog Cohen, in the area. Benayoun drilled the ball into the net as Hogg went the other way.

Malta almost stunned Israel when Briffa darted into the box across the by-line but his point-blank shot from a somewhat tight angle was smothered away by Dudu Aouate, the Israel goalkeeper. The loose ball came to Sciberras whose cross-cum-shot found no takers.

In their next significant foray into Malta’s half, 14 minutes from time, Israel increased their lead to all but secure the points. Hogg produced a good tipping save from substitute Gil Vermouth’s scorcher but the ball drifted towards the far post where Benayoun rose high to nod it into an empty net and complete his hat-trick.

Malta’s next commitment in Group F is on Tuesday when they host Latvia.

Aftermatch comments

John Buttigieg: “We knew that we were in for a difficult match. Israel started well, they put us under a lot of pressure and scored an early goal but we improved in the last 20 minutes of the first half.

“We also managed to score and I thought Israel were not very dangerous in the early part of the second half but we then made two fatal mistakes to give away two goals.

“It was difficult for the team to recover after that. We’re disappointed about the result but Israel deserved to win.”

Israel: D. Aouate, T. Ben Haim, D. Bonder, B. Kayal (’86 E. Golsa), A. Cohen, L. Refealov, Y. Benayoun, E. Zehavi (’51 G. Vermouth), B. Sahar (‘73 S. Arbeitman), D. Ben Dayan, T. Cohen.

Malta: A. Hogg, J. Caruana, C. Mamo, G. Sciberras, A. Agius, D. Bogdanovic (’58 A.Cohen), R. Briffa (’82 C. Failla), M. Mifsud, S. Bajada, E. Herrera (’79 M. Muscat), J. Pace.

Referee: Said Ennjimi (France).

Yellow cards: Bogdanovic; Benayoun; A. Cohen; Pace.

Attendance: 17,365.

Malta Players’ Ratings
Hogg-6.5, Caruana-6.5, Mamo-4, Sciberras-5, Agius-6, Bogdanovic-5, Briffa-5.5, Mifsud-6, Bajada-6, Herrera-4, Pace-6.5.

SUBS: Cohen-4.