AZERBAIJAN-3, MALTA-0

Malta fell to a 3-0 defeat to Azerbaijan in a friendly match at the Bakcell Arena in Baku this evening.

After conceding a fifth-minute goal, a far-post header by Rufat Dadashov, Malta fought back to seize the initiative.They produced some fine counter-attacking moves only to waste a couple of inviting opportunities.

André Schembri hit wide on 21 minutes after Azerbaijan failed to clear a long ball towards captain Michael Mifsud.

Ten minutes from half-time, Schembri missed an even better chance, shooting weakly into Khmaran Aghayev’s hands after latching onto a perfect pass from Edward Herrera.

Azerbaijan came close to a second goal three minutes from half-time when Araz Abdullayev burst forward on the left before crossing low for the unmarked Dadashov whose close-range effort was blocked by Haber.

Malta’s positive performance in the first half will have raised their optimism of getting an equaliser in the second half but their hopes were dashed in a disastrous five-minute spell.

After Rauf Alyev pounced on some hesitant Maltese defending to run through and beat Haber with a diagonal shot two minutes past the hour, defender Andrei Agius was sent off five minutes later for pulling down Dadashov in an off-the-ball incident.

Agius’s sending-off was a hammer blow for Malta who suffered a third goal 19 minutes from time.

Dadashov grabbed his second of the game with a deft first-time flick from Mahir Shukurov’s excellent cross from the right wing.

Sliema Wanderers duo Mark Scerri and Clifford Gatt Baldacchino made their senior debut for Malta in today’s friendly.

Scerri started the game while Gatt Baldacchino came on for Andrew Cohen after Agius’s red card.

The friendly in Baku was part of Malta’s preparations for next month’s World Cup home qualifiers against Denmark and Bulgaria.