Malta 0
Sweden 1
Hamad 37;

Malta U-21 players showed plenty of commitment and fighting spirit but Sweden were a bridge too far for Ray Farrugia’s courageous youngsters.

As is his wont, Farrugia had talked up his side’s chances of gaining something from their seventh qualifier in a bid to strengthen his player’s self-confidence but the Swedes proved too strong.

In front through Jiloan Hamad’s 37th-minute opener, Sweden created a host of other scoring chances but they were denied time and again by Malta goalkeeper Steve Sultana who redeemed himself for an early mistake that almost gifted the opponents a goal.

As Malta spent most of their energy chasing their opponents, they found it hard to make an impact in attack but to their credit, they never gave up.

Farrugia’s substitutes imbued some much-needed pace and flair into Malta’s attack as the hosts staged a late rally but their hopes of salvaging a point vanished when Dylan Grima missed a glorious chance towards the end.

Miguel Ciantar was named in Malta’s initial XI after passing a fitness test on Monday. The Balzan Youths forward took up a central striking role with Terence Vella and Steve Pisani deployed on the wings as Farrugia kept faith with 4-2-3-1.

Farrugia drafted Jonathan Xerri into the squad after Owen Bugeja twisted his ankle during training.

After four minutes, Sultana fumbled the ball after intercepting a left-wing cross from Johan Larsson. Sweden captain Hamad pounced on Sultana’s mistake but, much to Malta’s relief, the Malmo midfielder swung his shot over the bar.

On 16 minutes, Luca Martinelli averted a potentially menacing situation when he nudged the ball away from Rasmus Jonsson who had dribbled his way into the box. From the ensuing corner, taken by Astrit Addarevic, Oscar Hiljemark laid the ball back for John Guidetti who volleyed over.

Scrappy football was the order of the day early on with both sides toiling to attain a semblance of fluency.

Malta fashioned a good move on 25 minutes. Bjorn Kristensen delivered a crossfield pass to Vella who made headway on the right after exchanging passes with Muscat. Vella’s cross sailed towards Muscat but the Malta U-21 captain was dispossessed before he could conclude.

The home side then protested for a penalty when Vella’s free-kick glanced off Pontus Jansson but the referee saw nothing wrong.

Sweden had the Maltese defence on the backfoot when Jonsson strode clear on the left before passing to Hamad whose first-time grounder was blocked by Sultana.

A quick interchange outside the Maltese box tormented the home defenders as Guidetti turned before releasing Jonsson who waltzed his way into the box. The Wolsburg forward crossed towards Addarevic whose point-blank header brought an excellent save from Sultana nine minutes from half-time.

Malta’s reprieve was temporary as from the resultant corner, taken by Addarevic, Hamad capitalised on a half-clearance as he rammed the ball past a posse of players and into the roof of the net.

In the dying moments of the opening half, Sweden threatened to extend their lead as Hamad centred for Jonsson whose first-time effort was repelled by Sultana.

For all their fighting spirit, Farrugia’s lads had struggled to cope with Sweden’s athleticism and off-the-ball movement in the opening half. Apart from a couple of incursions from Vella on the left, Malta had offered little going forward as they were overrun by Sweden in midfield.

Farrugia tried to improve Malta’s link-up play by introducing Dylan Grima, a good passer of the ball, for the industrious Clyde Borg.

Ten minutes into the second half, Sultana came to Malta’s rescue again when touching Hiljemark’s thunderbolt onto a post.

Samuel Armenteros sent his drive over the bar as Sweden turned the screw. With 19 minutes rem-aining, Sultana punched away Armenteros’s long-range effort.

Malta thought they had equalised when Muscat directed his shot past Karl-Johan Johnsson but the assistant referee had raised his flag to signal an offside infringement.

Farrugia’s charges improved as the end of the game approached. Darren Falzon switched the ball to the steaming Gauci whose diagonal effort was blocked by Joseph Baffo.

On 87 minutes, Malta spurned an excellent chance to level matters when substitute Jean Paul Farrugia nodded the ball to the unmarked Grima who mishit his volley from inside the box.

Farrugia threw caution to the wind in the dying stages as even Zach Muscat moved upfield but it was to no avail.

Malta
S. Sultana, L. Martinelli, Z. Muscat, R. Muscat, T. Vella, M. Ciantar (62 D. Falzon), Y. Camilleri, C. Borg (46 D. Grima), B. Kristensen, M. Gauci, S. Pisani (76 J.P. Farrugia).

Sweden
K.J. Johnsson, J. Larsson, P. Jansson, J. Baffo, M. Albornoz, J. Hamada, O. Hiljemark, A. Addarevic, R. Jonsson, J. Guidetti, S. Armenteros (82 S. Andersson).

Referee: D. Piasecki (Poland).

Yellow cards: Larsson; Muscat; Jonsson; Martinelli.

UEFA U-21
Cyprus vs Germany 0-3; Ukraine vs Lithuania 2-0; Malta vs Sweden 0-1; Armenia vs Wales 0-0; Macedonia vs Denmark 1-1; N. Ireland vs Serbia 0-2; Italy vs Hungary 2-0; Bulgaria vs Austria 1-1.

Standings