Updated 10.37

Malta 0

Italy 1

Italy beat Malta by the slimmest of margins in their Euro 2016 qualifier at Ta' Qali this evening.

Southampton striker Graziano Pelle scored what proved to be Italy's winner from close range in the 23rd minute.

And Malta had hardly got over the shock when captain Michael Mifsud was sent off in a harsh decision following a foul on Florenzi.   

Italy dominated play right from the start and struck the Malta woodwork twice in the first half hour but Malta prevented further damage.

Malta coach Pietro Ghedin had declared that he was not planning to revamp his formation after the Norway defeat on Friday. In fact, Valletta midfielder Ryan Fenech was the only casualty who paid the price for the lame showing against the Norwegian side as he was replaced by John Mintoff.

His Italian counter-part, Antonio Conte elected to make no fewer than four changes after Friday's clash with Azerbaijan. Milan’s Mattia de Sciglio, Andrea Ranocchia, Andrea Pirlo and Simone Zaza lost their place in the Italian team to Antonio Candreva, Manuel Pasqual, Marco Verratti and Graziano Pelle'.

The game served up great entertainment to the thousands who filled every corner of the National Stadium. Prior kick-off, the South End core unfurled a giant replica of a Malta shirt. The stadium was a sea of red and white while a sizeable crowd of Italian supporters, most of them holding the tricolore flags, took half of the North side and most of the east side of the enclosure.

There was a collective relief when a long-range shot by Ciro Immobile flashed wide soon after kick-off.

The next chance came Malta’s way when Mintoff cut from the right before passing to Michael Mifsud who managed to keep his balance as he guided a ball to Clayton Failla whose final effort was deflect away for a corner by the Italian rearguard.

A moment of hesitation in the Maltese defence almost gifted Italy as Pelle' headed the ball past the on-rushing Andrew Hogg but his effort rattled the crossbar. From the ensuing corner, Chellini rose above the defence to hit the ball onto the post.

However, Italy’s early pressure was rewarded after 23 minutes. A Pasqual cross from the left was deflected by the defence. The danger was not over, though, as the ball fell at the feet of Immobile who dragged back towards the centre where Pelle' deposited it into the net with the slightest and softest of shots.

MIFSUD SHOWN THE RED CARD

It looked especially bleak for Malta five minutes later when Mifsud was given a dubious red card. The nippy striker appeared to extend his foot to anticipate Alessandro Florenzi but his intervention looked innocuous, leaving his side to playing an hour with one man down.

Instead of inflicting on a wounded Maltese side, Italy seemed content to administer their slim advantage as the game entered a lull as the game approached the halfway mark. On their part, Clayton Failla twice tried his luck with two similar set-pieces which went wide.

BONUCCI SENT OFF

Candreva tore out of the block after the break, when his rising shot sailed past Hogg but finished on the bar.

As the minutes trickled by, Italy, inspired by the elegant forays of the Lazio winger upped the tempo of their game without stretching the Maltese defence beyond routine work. At this point, Conte elected to throw into the mix first Alberto Aquilani and then in-form Sebastian Giovinco in that the latter’s confidence and enthusiasm to run at defenders would improve Italy’s attacking scope.

But few moments later, numerical parity was restored when Leonardo Bonucci was red carded for hauling down the goalbound Andre Schembri in a rare break-out from midfield.

From the ensuing free-kick, Failla’s drive from a free-kick hit the arm of Claudio Marchioso.

In the dying minutes, Giovinco broke forward in a devastating counter-attack but his low drive hit the foot of the post, the third time that Italy hit the woodwork.

REACTIONS

We played against a team whose intention was not to let us play," said Italy coach Conte. "Having said that, we created a lot of chances and hit the woodwork four times.

"Our next games are against Croatia and Bulgaria, two teams who will be looking for the points. A proper evaluation of our strength will be made after these two qualifiers."

Malta coach Pietro Ghedin was encouraged by his side's performance against one of Europe's strongest teams.

"Our objective was to leave the pitch with the fans' applause and we managed to do this," he told reproters. "We have accomplished our mission. For us, this result feels like a win."

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