ROMANIA 2
Balaceanu 41
Ficzay 83
MALTA 0
Malta fell to a 2-0 defeat in its first international fixture against Romania at the FRF Football Centre in Bucharest, on Thursday.
This was Malta's opening friendly from their Romanian double-header as they are currently in the Eastern Europe nation for a training camp.
It was a gutsy display from the Maltese team as in the first 45 minutes they could have found the net in a couple of situations, but on the other hand, Romania flexed their muscles in the second half to earn a well-deserved victory after all.
Coach Mark Gatt handed a debut to Mġarr United' Haley Bugeja who was in the starting XI while Veronique Mifsud, who is on the books of Birkirkara, and Mġarr's Jasmine Vella Turner collected their first caps late in the game.
Romania and Malta started the match on the front foot, in search of an early lead.
The hosts were pushing numbers forward while the Maltese were more cautious, waiting to catch their opponents on the break, as they managed to do so very often even though they failed to slot the ball past Romania's goalkeeper.
Malta goalkeeper Janice Xuereb was rarely forced into action, while at the other end of the field, Gatt's team was threatening the opponents from set-pieces.
As the half wore on, the Romanians were leaving aches of spaces behind and the Maltese were looking to exploit those situations, creating also a couple of clear-cut opportunities.
Yet, it was the Romanians that broke the deadlock through Ioana Balaceanu who concluded a well-engineered move as she hit a thumping volley behind Janice Xuereb on minute 41.
On the brink of half-time, Malta almost levelled terms instantly when Bugeja darted towards goal but her low drive was inches wide from goal as the hosts survived a late scare to end the first-half with a one-goal lead.
In the second 45 minutes, Romania dominated proceedings from the beginning and came close to double the lead from a corner-kick but Malta's custodian Xuereb managed to block a close-range header.
On minute 71, Malta's goalkeeper Xuereb produced a finger-tip save to deny a long-range shot from Maria Ficzay to keep the Reds' hopes of getting a positive result in this match alive.
Malta were struggling to implement their game, with coach Gatt inserting midfielder Jasmine Vella Turner into the fray to have more offensive players on the field.
However, Romania managed to double their lead six minutes from time through Ficzay who headed home a corner-kick past Xuereb.
Malta's next appointment against Romania will be this Sunday, at 10am (Malta time).
Malta
J. Xuereb; S. Farrugia, J. Flask, A. Sultana, N. Sciberras, S. Zammit, D. Theuma (86 V. Mifsud), B. Borg (74 J. Turner), Y. Carabott (46 R. Bajada), M. Farrugia, H. Bugeja (52 M. Borg).
Romania
S. Campean; M. Ciolacu, B. Goder (46 O. Oprea), M. Ficzay, B. Sandu, A. Vladulescu (58 S. Vlatafu), B. Tarasila (46 I. Bortan), R. Mirea, I. Balaceanu (58 A. Voicu), M. Marinescu (46 F. Olar), C. Carp (46 C. Dusa).
Referee: Cristina Trandafir (Romania FA).