MALTA-1, BULGARIA-2
For the second time in five days, Malta produced a gutsy, vibrant performance but, as was the case in Friday’s defeat to Denmark, they left the National Stadium with nothing to show for their efforts as they suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat to Bulgaria in a 2014 World Cup Group B qualifier.
With Malta two goals down after 60 minutes, the game looked over as a contest. Luck had clearly not been on Malta’s side as the home team hit the woodwork twice, a rare occurrence in an international game especially against a strong team like Bulgaria, but Pietro Ghedin’s men clearly have resilience in abundance.
The marked improvement in the national team’s performances was again in evidence this evening as Malta not only battled hard, they always sought to attack, never giving up even when the silky Bulgarians applied the pressure.
The reward for Malta’s efforts was a late goal by Edward Herrera and another ovation by the home supporters as the final whistle came with Malta going all out in search of an equaliser.
Their fightback just fell short but if this improvement in maintained, Malta can looking forward to the future with optimism.
Luke Dimech and Alex Muscat, ruled out of the Denmark match because of suspension, returned to Malta’s starting formation. Muscat replaced Roderick Briffa, suspended, and Dimech took the place of John Mintoff who was among the substitutes.
Malta threatened to go ahead after 70 seconds. A powerful run by Michael Mifsud tormented the Bulgarian defence before the Malta captain passed to Edward Herrera. Drifting in from the right, Herrera hit a low pass that just eluded Schembri with the ball rolling across the face of goal.
This chance raised the spirits of the home supporters who had earlier been overshadowed by the loud support of the hundreds of Bulgarian fans who attended this evening’s qualifier.
Another chance came Malta’s way when, from a corner, André Schembri’s swerving cross from the right was headed by Andrei Agius but his effort sailed over the bar.
Malta’s momentum was jolted when Bulgaria opened the scoring on eight minutes. There seemed little danger for Malta when Radoslav Dimitrov supplied dipping cross from an angled but Justin Haber’s attempt to palm the ball over the bar sent the ball soaring into the back of the net.
Bulgaria went close again but Georgi Milanov’s first-time volley, from Todor Nedelev’s cross, ended wide.
It took Ghedin’s a while to regroup but they made a reaction. Clayton Failla, scorer of Malta’s temporary equaliser against Denmark, produced another fantastic free-kick but Bulgaria goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov just managed to fist the ball away with the aid of the woodwork.
On 18 minutes, Ryan Camilleri picked out Mifsud who sprinted clear of his marker but his low cross found no takers.
Bulgaria seized control as the first half wore on.
Midway into the first half, Emil Gargorov rifled wide from the distance after another quick move by Lyuboslav Penev’s men.
Haber then pushed away Nedelev’s long-range grounder and Milanov, who is on the books of CSKA Moscow, was wide from the edge of the penalty area after cutting inside Agius.
Eight minutes from half-time, Popov sped into the box from the left but his cross-cum-shot was blocked by Haber.
In the latter stages of the opening half, Milanov dispossessed the dithering Camilleri on the left before passing to Popov whose exquisite flick looked destined to hit the back of the net only for Haber to turn it round his near post.
Early in the second half, Haber stormed out of his goal to palm away Milanov’s cross.
Schembri then took centre-stage with a great move. Receiving the ball from Herrera, Schembri left several Bulgaria players in his wake as he raced into the box but his low drive came off the base of the post, the second Malta had been denied by the woodwork.
But, as in the first half, Bulgaria made the most of their luck as they went up at the other end to increase their lead close to the hour. Milanov darted into the box from the left but his low cross was cut out by Haber only for Gargorov to blast the ball home from the rebound.
This goal was a hammer blow for Malta but they refused to buckle. An inviting opening beckoned for Malta when Herrera stormed forward on the counter but his pass towards Mifsud was deflected by a defender.
Mifsud then headed over from Herrera’s free-kick and, on 68 minutes, Schembri dribbled his way through before sending a through-ball to Mifsud whose strike was deflected away for a corner.
Malta protested for a penalty when Nikolay Bodurov threw his body in the way of Schembri but Romanian referee Alexandru Tudor saw nothing wrong.
Earlier, Ghedin had made his first substitution, Ryan Fenech replacing Failla.
With 16 minutes remaining, Mihaylov tipped Herrera’s free-kick over the bar.
Terence Vella then came on for Mifsud. The Birkirkara forward left an instant mark on the game as he shielded the ball before slipping a perfect return pass to Herrera who swept into the box before hitting past Mihaylov to send the home fans into raptures.
Vella’s fine touches and fearless approach boosted Malta’s attack as the red-shirted players lay into their opponents. Schembri’s cross from the right was inviting but the ball just by-passed Vella.
Malta managed to win a free-kick in a good position after Zlatinski felled Schembri outside the box but Fenech’s set-piece drive was blocked.
Malta
J. Haber, G. Sciberras, A. Agius, L. Dimech, C. Failla (66 R. Fenech), M. Mifsud (77 T. Vella), E. Herrera, A. Schembri, R. Muscat, R. Camilleri (82 J. Caruana), A. Muscat.
Bulgaria
N. Mihaylov, R. Dimitrov, N. Bodurov, I. Ivanov, V. Minev, S. Dyakov, V. Gadzhev, I. Popov, G. Milanov (82 H. Zlatinski), E. Gargorov (61 D. Rangelov), T. Nedelev (66 S. Delev).
Referee Dan Alexandru Tudor.