Malta 0
Lithuania 2
Dapkus 27, Zulpa 59;

In a second successive home match played in Gozo yesterday, Ray Farrugia’s Malta U-21 failed to produce their best form and overcome the Lithuanian obstacle, ultimately getting punished by two goals conceded at crucial phases of the match.

There were great expectations for this match following the excellent result achieved in the previous outing against Ukraine last week where the Maltese fought bravely for a 2-2 draw.

In the away match, Farrugia’s team had stunned Lithuania with a 2-1 comeback win.

Overconfidence, probably, must have crept inside the Maltese players’ heads yesterday with the result that they lacked consistency and their game was riddled with erratic play.

At first, the hosts seemed unperturbed by the fact that Farrugia was not on the bench but among the spectators on the stands to serve a ban after his sending-off against Ukraine.

However, as time passed they lost composure and were unable to contend with Lithuania’s more polished play. This was the visitors’ first win in the campaign after four successive defeats which gave them some hope of avoiding bottom place in the standings.

Malta remain with five points from six matches.

The hosts created two good opportunities in the early stages.

On six minutes, Lithuania goalkeeper Emilijus Zubas denied Terrence Vella following a measured pass by Clyde Borg and soon after Leighton Vella failed to connect with a Tristan Caruana centre inside the box.

The visitors took their time to settle down but delivered a stern warning on 13 minutes when goalkeeper Steve Sultana did well to keep out an insidious Vytautas Andriuskev free-kick.

Lithuania gained in confidence and started to venture forward more often now as Malta were spilling their passes all over in midfield.

On 26 minutes, Martynas Dapkus was on the right spot to tap in from a corner and put Lithuania 1-0 ahead.

That goal came as no surprise really but after a lull Malta staged a strong reaction just before half-time.

A Vella shot flew just wide and the same Birkirkara striker then had a first shot blocked by a defender before hitting his second attempt outside range.

Malta won a free-kick in added time but from Grech’s delivery, Rowen Muscat and Caruana both missed the opportunity to conclude from a good position.

With Farrugia’s no.2 Ronald Vella shouting instructions from the sidelines, the Maltese team kept the momentum and on 51 minutes there were unsuccessful protests for a penalty as Vella was floored inside the box.

A Caruana corner almost deceived the Lithuania keeper at the far post and a Vella grounder was easily dealt with by Zubas.

Lithuania did well to weather the storm and doubled the score in their first real action on Malta’s goal in the second half.

A shot by Tadas Eliosius was blocked but Arturass Zulpa was more precise from just outside the area – 2-0.

Malta could have reduced the deficit soon after but an attempt by Caruana from close distance failed to reach the desired target.

Lithuania were now playing for time and the match lost much of its interest. Play became rather abrasive and the referee had to show seven yellow cards not to let control escape from his grasp.

Malta never managed to seriously threaten Zubas for the rest of the match with the final whistle seeing the Lithuania clan celebrating their success, having just got revenge for their unex-pected upset to the Reds at home earlier in the campaign.

Malta
S. Sultana, L. Martinelli, C. Muscat, O. Bugeja, R. Muscat, L. Grech (S. Pisani 72), T. Vella, C. Borg (L. Micallef 64), B. Kristensen, M. Gauci, T. Caruana.

Lithuania
E. Zubas, E. Pilypas, X. Andriuskev, A. Vilkaitis, S. Paulius (M. Miskinis 87), A. Zulpa, T. Eliosius (E. Petkus 90), K. Chevedukas, M. Dapkus, F. Cernych, A. Brokas ( J. Joozatis 62).

Yellow cards: Cernych, Grech, Caruana, Zulpa, Andriuskev, Eliosius, Chvedukas.

Referee: Vlado Glodjovic.

Group Two