Malta 0
Armenia 1
Sarkisov 71
In a group replete with strong footballing nations like Italy, the Euro 2012 runners-up, Denmark and the Czech Republic, Armenia are arguably the weakest team other than Malta.
That is not to say that Armenia are easy opponents as their rise in the FIFA rankings in the last few years has been nothing short of remarkable but, in the eyes of many, last night’s opening World Cup qualifier against the former Soviet republic heightened hopes of a positive start by the national team to this campaign.
Such optimism had also been fuelled by back-to-back friendly wins over Luxembourg and San Marino in Pietro Ghedin’s first two games in charge in his second stint as Malta coach but Armenia were a different proposition yesterday.
They dictated matters for long swathes and it was only the stoic defending of the likes of Andrei Agius and Luke Dimech and the fine showing of keeper Andrew Hogg that prevented the visitors from a more emphatic victory.
Indeed, Malta’s defiance at the back was the only bright note on an otherwise disappointing evening for the hosts.
The team did their best to heed Ghedin’s instructions to try and pass their way through rather than resort to long balls but the red-shirted players were devoid of cohesion, particularly in midfield where Daniel Bogdanovic and Andrew Cohen, the wide men, and Andre Schembri were peripheral figures.
This below-par showing will have left Ghedin in no doubt as to the magnitude of the task facing his team in an intimidating Group B where a daunting clash against Italy in Modena awaits Malta next Tuesday.
On the occasion of FIFA Fair Play Day, Michael Mifsud and Sargis Hovsepyan, captains of Malta and Armenia respectively, made a declaration, pledging to play fair and according to the rules.
Ghedin’s selection showed one change from the friendly win against San Marino last month as experienced defender Dimech received the nod ahead of Ryan Camilleri.
Dimech, who returned to the national fold for the warm-up game against Liechtenstein last February after a lengthy absence, partnered Agius in central defence as Jonathan Caruana was kept in reserve.
With Clayton Failla unavailable, Ghedin switched Alex Muscat to left-back with Steve Borg patrolling the right flank.
The two central midfield slots were occupied by Roderick Briffa and Gareth Sciberras as Bogdanovic and Cohen played on the wing with Schembri detailed to probe for openings behind Mifsud, our lone striker.
Armenia’s tactical module was similar to that of Malta with Yuran Movsisyan leading the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Five minutes into the game, Marcos Pinheiro Pizzelli profited from a miscued clearance by Dimech but his effort was blocked.
Malta’s first notable chance came courtesy of Briffa whose central drive from outside the box posed no trouble to Grevorg Kasparov, the Armenia goalkeeper.
Armenia were the brighter side in the early exchanges.
They threatened to break the deadlock on 18 minutes when Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who had gone close with a rising effort, surged forward on the left before driving in a low cross that reached Levon Airapetian at the far post. He steadied himself before hitting a shot that whistled past the upright.
On the eve of the match, Ghedin had emphasised the importance of making good use of possession but his charges were finding it hard to pass the ball around with a modicum of precision with the consequence that their attacking threat was negligible.
Not so can be said of Armenia who were quick to break forward every time they had the ball.
Hogg did well to beat away a dangerous corner by Pizzelli.
In a rare Malta counter-attack, Sciberras sent Bogdanovic running through on the right with a superb pass and the latter’s attempt to cross the ball to Mifsud was deflected over the bar by Hrayr Mkoyan.
Close to the half-hour, Armenia were unlucky not to take the lead.
Movsisyan released Pizzelli and the latter mustered a fierce shot that ricocheted off the near post and onto the leaping Hogg. The ball soared tantalisingly towards goal but Muscat ran back and hooked the ball away.
With Malta unable to stem the tide, Armenia stayed in control.
They threatened again when the ball reached Mkhitaryan in the six-yard box but Borg made a providential tackle to dispossess the Armenia winger.
Boos echoed around the stadium when Austrian referee Rene Aisner ignored Malta’s claims for a penalty after the sprinting Mifsud appeared to have been pushed to the ground as he tried to latch on to Cohen’s inviting pass after the Hibs livewire had tricked his way past two defenders.
Five minutes into the second half, Dimech caught the eye with a timely intervention to block Mkhitaryan’s angled drive after the Armenia winger had made headway inside the Malta box.
Moments later, Hogg thwarted Armenia as he smothered away Aras Ozbiliz’s long-range strike.
At the restart, Malta were again forced to play second fiddle to the Armenians who were quicker on the ball and brisk in their movement, especially in midfield.
It took Malta 16 minutes of the second half to create a chance. Mifsud twisted and turned in the opponents’ box before delivering a low ball for Schembri but he was closed down by two Armenia players.
Malta’s resistance was breached with 19 minutes left when Movsisyan drove towards the byline down the left before picking out substitute Artur Sarkisov who beat Hogg from close range.
Ghedin made his first substitution 15 minutes from time, throwing on Ryan Fenech for Cohen.
Fenech’s first contribution was to deliver a looping left-wing cross which was diverted away for a corner.
As the minutes ticked away, Malta’s hopes of an equaliser receded amidst Ghedin men’s troubles to find some sort of fluidity in their play.
Armenia came close to increasing their lead through Mkhitaryan whose initial effort, following a set-piece pass from Ozbiliz, took a deflection and drifted just wide of the near post.
The Armenian winger was then foiled by Hogg who parried away his powerful effort from inside the box.
At the other end, Borg’s effort from a wide position was stopped by the visitors’ goalkeeper.
In stoppage time, Hogg was prominent again when palming away a menacing ball by Sarkisov from the right.
Malta: A. Hogg, A. Muscat, G. Sciberras, A. Agius, L. Dimech, D. Bogdanovic, R. Briffa (86 S. Bajada), M. Mifsud, A. Cohen (75 R. Fenech), A. Schembri, S. Borg.
Armenia: G. Kasparov, S. Hovsepyan, R. Arzumanyan (80 V. Aleksanyan), H. Mkoyan, A. Yedigaryan (53 D. Manoyan), H. Mkhitaryan, K. Mkrtchyan, L. Airapetian, A. Ozbiliz, M. Pizzelli (65 A. Sarkisov), Y. Movsisyan.
Referee Rene Aisner (Austria).
Yellow cards Sciberras; Mkoyan; Dimech; Hovsepyan.
Attendance 3,800.
Malta Players’ Ratings
Hogg-7.5, Muscat-6.5, Sciberras-6, Agius-7, Dimech-6.5, Bogdanovic-5, Briffa-5.5, Mifsud-5, Cohen-6, Schembri-5, Borg-6.
Aftermatch comments...
National coach Pietro Ghedin lamented the way his team conceded Artur Sarkisov’s goal yesterday, adding Malta had played almost at a par with their more-quoted opponents yesterday.
“Armenia have great potential but it’s a pity we lost this way because the lads were rarely second best tonight.
“In the end, we got punished for one of the few mistakes we committed. In my opinion that was a soft goal they scored and we should have never let that to happen.
“It’s hard to lose this way but that’s football.”
Malta’s next match will be in Modena on Tuesday against group favourites Italy.
“We have a couple of days to reflect. But Italy will be an-other story. There’s room for improvement but we shall not let this upset affect the team’s preparations for the next group match.”