MALTA 1

Nwoko 90

CYPRUS 1

Wheeler 35

A tenacious showing by the Malta U-21 national team earned them a 1-1 draw against Cyprus in their final 2019 European qualifiers at the Centenary Stadium, yesterday.

A last gasp goal by Kyrian Nwoko helped Malta to finish this campaign with four points, and secure their second positive result after they had beaten Hungary last Friday. 

Malta, unchanged from the Hungary game, started the match brightly, having the lions’ share of possession but they failed to make their pressure count.

To the contrary of the hosts, Cyprus were more direct in their offensive plays and they forged ahead past the half hour when Matija Spoljaric picked out Wheeler inside the eighteen and the latter slotted the ball behind Jake Galea for 1-0.

In the second half, the Malta team was upping his ante on the field with fullbacks Kurt Zammit and Michele Sansone pushing forward as well in attempt to level terms. 

15 minutes from time, Malta registered its first noteworthy action of the second half when Jurgen Degabriele connected with a Myles Beerman but he skied his effort. 

Two minutes later, the Hibernians player came much closer to find the net with a curling effort just toe be denied by a fantastic save from Andreas Christodoulou. 

Kyrian Nwoko missed a Beerman’s whipped cross by inches as Malta were forcing Cyprus to defend in numbers in their own half.

On minute 82, Lady Luck seemed to be on Cyprus part when skipper Degabriele fired a close-range shot just to be denied by the crossbar. 

A minute later, Nwoko squandered a golden chance to restore parity when he found himself unmarked in front of an empty net but surprisingly, sailed the ball over the bar. 

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