Malta 0
Greece 1
Torosidis 90;
Optimism gave way to frustration last night as a stoppage-time goal by Greece shattered Malta’s erstwhile bright hopes of earning their first point after four straight defeats in this Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
Having repelled wave after wave of Greek attacks in the second half, the spirited home team looked to have gained a much-needed tonic when their tetchy opponents were reduced to 10 men five minutes from time but their efforts were undone by a last-gasp goal from Vasillis Torosidis.
Drawing inspiration from their commendable performance in a 0-0 friendly draw with Switzerland last month, Malta again relied on counter-attacks to try and hurt their more-quoted opponents.
The red-shirt players displayed remarkable fighting spirit as they limited the lacklustre Greeks to a handful of half-chances in a first half that saw Malta mount a string of dangerous raids.
With goalkeeper Justin Haber, Andrei Agius and Jonathan Caruana oozing defiance at the back, Gareth Sciberras industrious in midfield and the front trio of Daniel Bogdanovic, Michael Mifsud and Andre Schembri foraging to good effect, the omens looked positive for Malta.
But, Caruana’s injury-forced substitution at half-time undermined the home side as Buttigieg not only lost a tower of strength at the back, he was also forced to sacrifice Sciberras’s midfield graft as the Marsaxlokk player switched to defence.
Faced with a must-win scenario, Greece did improve in the second half but their failure to translate their superior possession into goals looked to have cost them dear when Milan powerhouse Sokratis Papastathopoulos was expelled for a last-man foul on Michael Mifsud during a positive spell for Malta.
However, Malta’s inability to hold on to possession for longer periods eventually led to their downfall as Buttigieg’s men were hit by a killer goal from a set-piece.
Indications that Briffa was winning his race to regain fitness from a hamstring injury turned out to be correct as the Valletta right-back was named in Malta’s initial XI.
Buttigieg’s team selection showed two changes from the Switzerland game as John Hutchinson was preferred to Paul Fenech, who was not in the 18-man squad, while Daniel Bogdanovic replaced Andrew Cohen.
Shouts of ‘Malta, Malta’ from the South End Core members resonated across the stadium as the home team shaded the early exchanges. The 500-odd fans who travelled from Greece were also doing their best to cheer their team.
Greece fashioned a half-chance after six minutes when Samaras’s header from Tzavellas’s cross was stopped by Haber.
Georgia’s last-gasp win over erstwhile group leaders Croatia earlier yesterday augmented the pressure on Greece to collect maximum points from this game but it will also have increased their motivation as a win here would take them top of the table.
An exhilarating run by Giorgios Samaras on the left carried him past three players and into the box but his cross was cleared by Caruana as Greece began to assert their superiority.
On 15 minutes, Nini Sotiris profited from the open space down the inside-right channel as he advanced unimpeded before slipping the ball, to Torosidis who rifled wide.
An excellent counter-attack by Malta disconcerted Greece on 21 minutes as Schembri charged forward through the middle before delivering an excellent pass to Mifsud. The impish forward tried to dribble his way into a shooting position but his run was halted by Georgios Karagounis. The home fans shouted ‘penalty’ but German referee Michael Weiner saw nothing wrong.
At the other end, Haber easily saved Nikolaos Lymperopoulos’s overhead kick while Carlo Mamo produced an excellent tackle to dispossess Sotiris inside the box.
Nine minutes from half-time, Schembri sent his shot into the side-netting from an angled position after receiving from Bajada.
There was a scare for Malta when Salpingidis raced into the box to reach a through-ball but the PAOK forward lost his balance as he was challenged by Caruana who suffered an injury in the same action. The Valletta centre-half returned to the field of play after being seen to by the national team’s medical personnel.
With three minutes of the first half remaining, Mifsud launched another breakaway as he surged clear through the middle before passing to Bogdanovic on the right. The latter sent in a low cross towards Mifsud who was closed down by the Greek defenders.
The closing stages of the first half belonged to Malta. Bogdanovic shot wide from outside the box after being teed up by Schembri and Agius’s long-range thunderbolt was also off target.
Buttigieg was compelled to make some positional changes at half-time as a result of Caruana’s injury withdrawal. Beset by a shortage of defenders, the Malta coach repositioned Sciberras at centre-half and brought on Jamie Pace to partner Hutchinson in midfield.
Four minutes into the second half, Malta strung up a good attacking move. Briffa made headway on the right before releasing Bogdanovic who drifted infield before hitting a swerving cross that sailed across the face of goal but found no takers.
Greece quickly regained the upperhand and peppered the Maltese box with a series of crosses. They went close to breaking the deadlock when Tzavellas’s cross was met with a glancing header by Torosidis but Haber flung himself to his right to push the ball away for a corner. From the ensuing corner, Sotiris got another teasing cross into the box and Samaras rose above everyone but his header ricocheted off the crossbar.
Reprieved, Malta went straight up at the other end, Mifsud peeling away on the left before supplying a cross that bypassed a host of players and landed at the feet of the unmarked Bogdanovic who hesitated for a second before hitting a shot that came off Tzavellas.
Bogdanovic then had an angled drive deflected past the near post as the Sheffield United’s brisk movement on the right began to cause more problems to the Greeks.
The visiting side threatened again when Konstantinos Katsouranis galloped forward before unleashing a powerful drive that was parried away by the vigilant Haber.
The Malta goalkeeper rescued his team from another menacing situation when he pushed out Samaras’s dangerous cross that seemed destined to reach Lymperopoulos.
As the second half progressed, Greece began to sally forward with more urgency. Another Sotiris service sailed towards the towering Samaras, now the central figure in Greece’s attack, but Agius went up to divert the ball away for a corner.
With Greece committing more men forward in search of a goal, all routes seemed to lead to Malta’s box but the red-shirted players stood firm despite betraying signs of tiredness.
Bogdanovic’s vertical ball towards Greece’s penalty box created an opening for Malta as Schembri chested the ball before setting up Mifsud whose grounder was blocked by Aleksandros Tzorvas.
Maltese optimism rose when the red-shirt players broke on the counter but Mifsud’s progression was halted by Papastathopolous. With two other Maltese players getting first to the loose ball, everyone expected the referee to apply the advantage rule but Weiner blew his whistle and reached for his red card to dismiss the Greek defender.
Greece grew over-urgent as the game drifted into the final minutes. A minute from time, a dangerous header from substitute Konstantinos Mitroglou was touched away for a corner.
Just when it looked as though Malta had done enough to earn a point, Greece struck deep into stoppage time.
Karagounis’s cross from a left-wing free-kick soared into the Malta box but Pace headed the ball away only for Mitroglou to scramble it back towards the goalmouth and Torosidis scored from close range to leave the home side reeling.
Comments
John Buttigieg: “As always, the players gave their all. This defeat hurts because the team didn’t give away an inch in this game. We started well but Greece took control in the second half. I’m mostly disappointed at our failure to make better use of possession, especially in the final minutes.”
Fernando Santos: “Malta were very good in defence but they also created some good counter-attacks. They have three dangerous players up front. I wasn’t happy with our first-half performance. I expected the team to open the scoring in the first 15 to 20 minutes but we were too sloppy. We improved in the second half but missed three to four good chances.”
Malta
J. Haber, J. Caruana (46 J. Pace), C. Mamo, G. Sciberras, A. Agius, J. Hutchinson, D. Bogdanovic, R. Briffa, M. Mifsud, S. Bajada (78 R. Fenech), A. Schembri (90 A. Cohen).
Greece
A. Tzorvas, V. Torosidis, G. Tzavellas, A. Papadopoulos, S. Papastathopoulos, G. Karagounis, K. Katsouranis, N. Sotiris (81 P. Kone), N. Lymperopoulos (70 K. Mitroglou), G. Samaras, D. Salpingidis (61 J. I. Fetfatzidis).
Referee: Michael Weiner (Germany).
Yellow cards: Tzavellas; Torosidis; Cohen.
Red card: Papastathopoulos (G) 85.
Attendance: 10,600.
Malta players’ ratings
Haber-7.5, Caruana-6.5, Mamo-7, Sciberras-7, Agius-6.5, Hutchinson-5.5, Bogdanovic-7, Briffa-6.5, Mifsud-6.5, Bajada-6, Schembri-6.
Sub: Pace-5.