MALTA 2 BELGIUM 3
A last-gasp header by Bjorn Engels broke Maltese resolve but Silvio Vella’s boys won the admiration of their performance.
Vella’s men defied the gloomy forecasts with a tenacious second-half performance which saw them claw back from a two goal deficit.
In fairness, Belgium, as excepted were the more creative force and produced the better chances but Malta were focused, committed and made a concerted effort to break forward with purpose.
Inside the second minute, Ryan Camenzuli sent Charles Musonda crashing to end Belgium’s first venture towards the Maltese box and conceded a penalty. Youri Tielemans converted from the spot. Belgium were one up already and it was not even the first chance of the match.
That had come in the first minute, when Camenzuli’s wonderful long free-kick brought the best out of Davy Roef, the Belgian goalkeeper.
But in the blink of an eye, Belgium were two up. Musonda received a diagonal ball from Senna Miangue and he headed it home.
It was all over, so it seemed but the Maltese side responded well.
Johann Bezzina’s long ball travelled on the right flank and Cain Attard brought it down and pulled it in the centre for Grech. The midfielder’s shot was tame and Roef saved it without difficulty.
Eight minutes into the second half, Julien De Sart, of Middlesbrough, produced a long-range shot took a deflection which almost wrong-footed Juergen Borg the Maltese goalkeeper who recovered in time to push the ball around the post.
Malta improved after the break with Matthew Guillaumier and Johann Bezzina raising their game significantly in midfield. So did captain Camenzuli who had a quiet first half.
This was the cue for Vella to throw on Myles Beerman, who left Manchester City to sign for the Academy of Glasgow Rangers last Wednesday.
Past the hour mark, Tielemans hit a swerving free-kick which grazed the near post.
The much-craved opening for Malta arrived after 73 minutes. A well-crafted move by Malta saw Bezzina’s perfect pass reach the unmarked Jurgen Degabriele who advanced with the ball before planting it past Roef.
It took the Belgian side less than two minutes to almost re-establish their two-goal lead but Siebe Schrijvers’s effort came off the crossbar.
Malta rallied. Bezzina stole possession in midfield but he took one touch too many and he was dispossessed before serving Degarbiele.
The home team’s improvement was rewarded six minutes from time, when Roef only managed to smother Bezzina’s ferocious drive and Grech, who followed the move, was on hand to drive the ball home off a decisive deflection of Michael Heylen.
The Maltese side seemed to have done enough to earn a point when the Belgian side grabbed the dramatic winner at the death. Bjorn Engels taking advantage of a defensive hesitancy from a long corner to plant the ball past Borg.