MALTA-0, TURKEY-3

[attach id=365025 size="medium" align="left"]Photo: Paul Zammit Cutajar[/attach]

Malta ended their UEFA U-21 Championship qualifying campaign with no points after going down 3-0 to Turkey in their final match this evening at Ta' Qali.

Having their lost their previous seven qualifiers, the Maltese youngsters entertained hopes of breaking their duck in their last home outing but they were no match for the strong Turks.

Malta's low-key performance made for a disappointing debut for coach Silvio Vella who replaced Ray Farrugia earlier this year.

Turkey opened the scoring after 13 minutes.

The home team were punished for their failure to deal with a prolonged attack as Kerim Koyunlu's a through-ball picked out Emrah Bassan who chipped the ball over goalkeeper Jurgen Borg.

The hosts should have equalised on 27 minutes when Llwelyn Cremona ran clear on the counter before passing to the unmarked Jurgen Pisani who only had the goalkeeper to beat but his unconvincing effort was kept out by Omar Kahveci.

Turkey made the points safe three minutes into the second half when Bassan scored his second goal with a low strike from inside the box.

The game petered out as Turkey remained in firm control while Malta struggled to emerge from their own half.

The visitors made it 3-0 seven minutes from time, substitute Muhammet Demiri tapping the ball home from close in after good work by Salih Ucan.

Malta should have narrowed the deficit whenPisani sped clear on the left and crossed for Luke Montebello but the latter was anticipated by a defender.