Bulgaria 6
Tonev 6, 38, 68, Popov 47; Gargorov 55,Ivanov 78
Malta 0
Malta produced their worst performance under Italian coach Pietro Ghedin yesterday as they slipped to a humiliating 6-0 defeat to Bulgaria in a World Cup qualifier at Sofia’s National Stadium Vasil Levski.
Hopes of a morale-boosting result ahead of Tuesday’s much-awaited home encounter with Italy were blown away by the clinical Bulgarians who, as the scoreline clearly indicates, dominated a one-sided match from start to finish.
With Malta clearly struggling to cope with the snow-covered pitch and gusting winds, their mission became more complicated when Bulgaria took an early lead.
Undeterred by the lack of home support after FIFA ordered Bulgaria to play this qualifier behind closed doors because of the racist behaviour of their fans in the qualifier against Denmark, Lyuboslav Penev’s men turned in a vibrant display that over-whelmed the stuttering Maltese players who, quite strangely, looked dispirited and way off their best form.
To make matters worse, indi-vidual errors only served to compound matters for Malta as goalkeeper Andrew Hogg was at fault for Bulgaria’s second goal, scored by Alexandar Tonev, while Luke Dimech’s mistake gifted the hosts their fourth.
Thanks to this win, Bulgaria, still unbeaten, have narrowed the gap on Group B leaders Italy to one point but the Euro 2012 finalists have a game in hand.
Malta remain rooted to the bottom of the table with no points from four matches.
With first-choice midfielder Gareth Sciberras deemed unfit to start, Ghedin awarded a starting berth to Paul Fenech who partnered the returning Roderick Briffa in central midfield.
Ryan Fenech deputised for Daniel Bogdanovic on the right wing with Edward Herrera on the left.
At the back, Andrei Agius filled the right-back role as Jonathan Caruana, back in the frame after missing last month’s friendly against Northern Ireland with injury, flanked Luke Dimech in central defence and Clayton Failla manned the left flank.
In attack, Andrè Schembri took up an advanced midfield role behind striker Michael Mifsud as Ghedin stuck with 4-2-3-1.
Bulgaria, set out in a 4-3-3 formation, were off to a flying start as they took the lead inside the opening six minutes.
Tonev slipped the attentions of Failla on the right as he darted into the box to reach Emil Gargorov’s pass before firing a diagonal shot past Hogg.
It was Tonev’s first international goal for his country.
This early goal was a hammer blow for Malta who found it difficult to come to terms with the slippery conditions of the pitch.
On eight minutes, Ivelin Popov, the Bulgaria captain, raced past a posse of Malta players but his pass inside the penalty area was cleared away by Failla.
Malta were penned in their own half for most of the first period and their poor passing further under-mined their efforts to stem the tide as Bulgaria continued to pour forward.
Mifsud was an isolated figure upfront as Malta’s midfielders saw little of the ball and when they did, their passes were erratic.
Just when it looked as though Ghedin’s men were coping well with Bulgaria’s pressure, the hosts struck their second seven minutes from half-time.
Tonev, deputising for the injured Stanislav Manolev, cut inside Failla and Paul Fenech before firing a central shot that looked to pose little threat to Hogg but the ball slipped from the goalkeeper’s grasp and rolled into the net.
Bulgaria’s second goal coming just before half-time rattled Malta who conceded a third two minutes into the second half.
Georgi Milanov broke clear on the left as Malta were again caught out at the back. The Litex Lovech winger advanced before squaring to Popov who tapped home from point blank.
The fourth goal, on 55 minutes, came from a mistake by Dimech who was dispossessed just outside the box as he tried to dribble his way out.
Vladimir Gadzhev capitalised as he ran through unchallenged before releasing Gargorov who rifled past Hogg.
Malta’s difficulties to stop Bulgaria’s incursions down the left prompted Ghedin to bring on Ryan Camilleri for Agius soon after Gargorov’s goal.
Tonev completed his hat-trick midway into the second half when he beat Hogg with an angled shot from outside the box after receiving a short pass from Georgi Iliev.
With 12 minutes remaining, Bulgaria got their sixth.
Valeri Bozhinov, who had come on for Gargorov, supplied a teasing cross from a corner and Nikolay Bodurov’s initial attempt was blocked by Rowen Muscat, who had replaced Paul Fenech.
Bodurov was first to the loose ball and, with Muscat backing off, his cross came off the crossbar with the ball dropping kindly for defender Ivan Ivanov who poked home from close range.
Bulgaria: N. Mihaylov, N. Bodurov, Y. Minev, I. Popov, V. Minev (63 R. Dimitrov), I. Ivanov, G. Milanov, V. Gadzhev (70 G. Sarmov), A. Tonev, G. Iliev, E. Gargorov (56 V. Bozhinov).
Malta: A. Hogg, J. Caruana, A. Agius (56 R. Camilleri), L. Dimech, R. Briffa, M. Mifsud, C. Failla, A. Schembri, P. Fenech (70 R. Muscat), E. Herrera, R. Fenech.
Referee: Eitan Shmuelevitz (Israel).
Yellow card: Y. Minev.
Bulgaria’s Ivelin Popov (left) goes past Malta defender Andrei Agius and goalkeeper Andrew Hogg at the Vasil Levski stadium.