Ukraine fight back to beat Malta 5-1

Serhiy Rybalka dented Malta U-21’s hopes of a positive result in their final UEFA Championship qualifier as the Ukrainian midfielder took centre stage with a well-taken hat-trick that propelled his team to a 5-1 win in Obolon yesterday.

An upset looked on the cards when Terrence Vella gave Malta the lead midway through the first half. But the hosts fought back admirably and Rybalka eased their nerves when netting three times before goals from Dmytro Korishko and Dmytro Grechyshkin completed a comfortable victory for the Ukrainians that kept them in the running for a top-two position in Group 2.

UKRAINE: I. Berezovskiy, D. Kushnirov, T. Partsvaniya, I. Putrash (36 V. Balashov), D. Korkishko, A. Bogdanov, S. Rybalka, V. Fedotov, S. Kryvtsov, S. Lyulka, D. Grechyshkin.

MALTA: S. Sultana, R. Camenzuli (58 L. Micallef), L. Martinelli, Z. Muscat, R. Muscat (32 C. Borg), T. Vella (86 D. Falzon), M. Scerri, R. Scicluna, B. Kristensen, Y. Camilleri, M. Gauci.

Referee: Orel Grinfeld (Israel).