Updated 10.22 p.m.
MALTA-0, GREECE-1
A stoppage-time goal denied Malta their first point in Euro 2012 qualifying as Greece ground out a 1-0 win to go top of Group F.
A spirited performance by Malta raised home hopes of a positive result and optimism increased further when Greece were reduced to 10 men with five minutes left but their last-ditch pressure paid off when Vasileios Torosidis scored from close range in the final minute of stoppage time.
Greece created a half-chance after six minutes when Georgios Samaras’s weak header from Georgias Tzavellas’s cross was stopped by Haber.
The pressure on Greece to take the three points from this qualifier increased significantly after Georgia leapfrogged them into second place following their shock 1-0 win over Croatia yesterday.
A diagonal run by Samaras on the left took him past three players and into the box but his cross was stopped by Jonathan Caruana as Greece began to intensify their pressure.
On 15 minutes, Nini Sotiris released Vasileios Torosidis inside the box but the latter fired wide.
A sweeping counter-attack by Malta had Geece on the backfoot on 21 minutes as Andre Schembri ran forward through the middle before serving Michael Mifsud. The Malta captain twisted and turned to break free of his markers but his run was halted by Georgios Karagounis. The home fans screamed ‘penalty’ but German referee Michael Weiner allowed play to continue.
At the other end, Malta goalkeeper Haber easily dealt with Nikolaos Lymperopoulos’s overhead kick while Carlo Mamo made an excellent tackle to dispossess Sotiris inside the box.
Despite seeing more of the ball, Greece were finding it hard to create clear openings as Malta remained dangerous on the counter.
Nine minutes from half-time, Schembri fired his shot into the side-netting from an angled position after receiving from Bajada.
There was a moment of anxiety for Malta when Dimitrios Salpingidis ran into the box to reach a through-ball but the PAOK forward stumbled as he was challenged by the sliding Caruana.
With three minutes of the first half remaining, Mifsud mounted another breakaway as he sped through the middle before passing to the advancing Daniel Bogdanovic on the right. The latter sent in a low cross towards Mifsud who was intercepted by the Greek defenders.
The closing stages of the first half were encouraging for Malta. Bogdanovic drove wide from the outside the box after being teed up by Schembri and Agius’s long-range pildriver was also off target.
Malta coach John Buttigieg was forced into his first substitution at half-time as Caruana’s participation was ended by injury. Faced with a shortage of defenders, the Malta coach instructed Gareth Sciberras to take Caruana’s position in central defence and sent on Jamie Pace to partner Hutchinson in midfield.
Four minutes into the second half, Malta produced a good attacking move. Roderick Briffa advanced on the right before passing to Bogdanovic who drifted infield before delivering a swerving cross that fizzed across the face of goal but found no takers.
Greece quickly regained the upperhand. They went close to breaking the stalemate when Tzavellas’s cross was met with a powerful header by Torosidis but Haber dived to his right to paw the ball away for a corner. From the ensuing corner, Sotiris got another good cross into the box and Samaras rose above everyone but his header came off the crossbar.
Relieved, Malta went straight up at the other end, Mifsud charging clear on the left before hitting a cross that soared past a host of players and landed at the feet of the unmarked Bogdanovic who hesitated for a second before firing a shot that came off Tzavellas.
Bogdanovic then had an diagonal drive deflected past the near post.
Greece threatened again when Konstantinos Katsouranis ran forward before unleashing a powerful drive that was beaten away by the vigilant Haber.
As the second half progressed, Greece upped their game. Another Sotiris service sailed towards the towering Samaras, now the main figure in Greece’s attack, but Agius went up to divert the ball away for a corner.
Bogdanovic’s well-hit pass towards Greece’s penalty box created an opening for Malta as Schembri quickly served Mifsud but the latter’s grounder was blocked by Aleksandros Tzorvas.
Five minutes from time, Greece were reduced to 10 men, Sokratis Papastathopolous getting a straight red for tripping the goalbound Mifsud and denying Malta a clear scoring opportunity.
Nothing came out of the ensuing free-kick but Maltese optimism increased. Still, Greece refused to give up. A minute from time, a dangerous header from substitute Konstantinos Miroglou was touched away for a corner.
Just when it looked as though the game would end goalless, Greece scored deep into stoppage time. Georgios Karagounis’s cross from a free-kick sailed into the Malta box but Pace headed the ball clear but only as far as Konstantinos Mitroglou who directed it back towards the goalmouth where Torosidis prodded past Haber.
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).
Red card Papastathopoulos (G) 85.