Defender Jonathan Caruana was yesterday still struggling to come to terms with his undeserved dismissal in the 5-1 home defeat to Scotland, claiming that the referee had made the wrong call as he didn’t make contact with Chris Martin.
Trailing 2-1 in their opening 2018 World Cup Group F qualifier at the National Stadium on Sunday, Malta suffered a fatal double-blow on the hour as Ukrainian referee Yevhen Aranovskiy pointed to the penalty spot after ruling that Caruana had clattered into Martin before brandishing the red card to dismiss the Malta centre-half.
Caruana spread his arms to protest his innocence and television replays justified his pleas as the centre-half’s sliding legs didn’t touch Martin who appeared to lunge forward in an attempt to bundle home a cross from Andrew Robertson.
“The red card was unjust,” a dejected Caruana told Times of Malta yesterday.
“I didn’t touch the Scotland player.
“We were caught out at the back and, when the cross came in from the left, Andrei Agius got a slight deflection which altered the flight of the ball. I had committed myself to a tackle to try and intercept the cross but when the ball changed direction, I pulled my legs back to avoid making contact with their player.
“The television replays showed that I was actually a bit far from their striker (Martin).
“For us, it’s already difficult when it’s 11 vs 11, never mind when we are with 10 men.
“When the referee blew his whistle, I thought he had stopped play for offside. Nobody realised that he had ordered a penalty, not even the Scotland players.”
Sky Sports Scotland said on their Twitter account: “Scotland enjoyed a stroke of luck when the ref awarded a penalty… wrongly. We were due a break...”
Caruana’s red card triggered Malta’s second-half capitulation as Robert Snodgrass hit home from the penalty spot to wrap up the points for Scotland who went on to score two more goals for a comprehensive win.
To add to Malta’s woes, Luke Gambin was also given his marching orders late on for lashing out at Snodgrass after the latter made an abrasive challenge on the Barnet FC winger as they went for a loose ball.
The 23-year-old had been Malta’s most impressive performer, constantly using his speed and agility to make headway on the left and also tracking back to defend when Malta were chasing possession, but Gambin now faces a potentially hefty ban and will surely miss the next qualifier against England at Wembley Stadium, on October 8.
Caruana’s dismissal also rules him out of next month’s big game in London but he has appealed to UEFA to rectify the injustice he suffered by rescinding his red card.
“I don’t know what can be done but everyone could see that there was no penalty whatsoever,” the Valletta FC captain said.
“I was wrongly penalised. If I had brought down the Scotland player, I would have held up my hand and admitted my mistake, but I didn’t even touch him.”
The cruel manner of their 5-1 defeat to Scotland, coupled with the loss of two key players, has dampened Maltese spirits ahead of the daunting qualifier against England next month but Caruana has backed his team-mates to channel their frustration into a brave performance at Wembley.
“We always manage to react,” Caruana said.
“We have two difficult away games coming up, against England and Lithuania, but I believe that we should focus on the positives of our match against Scotland.
“Before the penalty incident, we were certainly holding our own.”