Malta Secure Late Win Over Luxembourg

Malta bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Luxembourg in the UEFA Women’s U17 EURO Qualifications. Nyorah Celeste’s opener for Malta was shortly equalled by Luxembourg’s Maylis Cabral Tavares. Sara Saliba came off the bench to score the winner late in the match. Malta’s Kaysia Micallef was also denied by the woodwork twice.

Line-Ups

Luxembourg’s Cristina Correia made three changes from the starting eleven that won the opening match against Azerbaijan. Lilli Schroeder retained her place in goal, as did the centre-back pairing of Gloria Diederich and Ella Schmit. The change in defence was made in the left-back position where Charlie Jorge Magalhaes started instead of Joana Ribeiro Fernandes. Zoe Texeira maintained her starting place in the right of the defence, as did Olivia Konsbruck and captain Anna Miny in midfield. Lena Alves retained her starting place, as did Eva Marinelli. Meanwhile, Carolina Barbosa de Sousa and Maylis Cabral Tavares made their first starts.

Malta’s Vince Galea retained faith in Erika Muscat in goal. Leanne Frendo and Thea Scicluna also retained their place in the defence, but there were also two new starters in Ylenia Azzopardi and Ilona Abela. The midfield trio of Francesca Bartolo, Ema Micallef and Amelia Vassallo retained their places. In attack, Nyorah Celeste was handed a start, while Kaysia Micallef and captain Lexine Farrugia retained their place in the starting eleven.

How It Unfolded

The teams came into the match on the back of different opening matches. Malta looked for its first points in the group, while Luxembourg was looking to make it six points from two matches, following its opening 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan.

Malta took the attacking initiative early on but early attempts by Amelia Vassallo, Francesca Bartolo and Nyorah Celeste did not trouble Lilli Schroeder. At the other end, Luxembourg’s Eva Marinelli and Lena Alves worked Erika Muscat, but she was equal to the attempts.

Luxembourg engaged in a physical game to stop the Maltese from progressing through the attacking trio, which handed a number of free-kicks to Galea’s side. The Maltese worked their way closer to goal, ramping up the number of corner kicks. Kaysia Micallef struck the woodwork for the first time in the 29th minute, before Lexine Farrugia’s attempt was saved by Lilli Schroeder. However, Malta’s attacking intent was rewarded on the half-hour mark, with Lexine Farrugia teeing up Nyorah Celeste who broke the deadlock.

However, the lead was short-lived as Eva Marinelli fed Maylis Cabral Tavares, who levelled things just a minute later. Neither side could find another goal before the break. Both coaches made a substitution at half-time. Correia replaced Eva Marinelli by Gwendy Merlevede, while Galea opted to bring on Maia Gauci instead of Leanne Frendo.

The sides emerged into the second half with the same intent on physicality, but neither could truly cause damage from their set-pieces initially. Malta came closest to going back in the lead in the sixty-fourth minute when Kaysia Micallef was denied by the woodwork once more, while Lexine Farrugia also forced Schroeder into a save just seconds later.

Seeing her team face increasing pressure, Cristina Correia looked to her bench once more. She made three substitutions bringing on Joana Ribeiro Fernandes, Jeanne Flammang and Jenny Soares Magalhaes, in replacement of Zoe Teixeira, Charlie Jorge Magalhaes and Carolina Barbosa De Sousa.

The changes jolted Luxembourg into attack but attempts flew off target before Malta’s Vince Galea responded with a change of his own in the 74th minute, bringing on Sara Saliba instead of the goalscorer Nyorah Celeste.

Luxembourg’s Gwendy Merlevede tested Erika Muscat shortly after but she was equal to the attempt. As the match progressed into its final ten minutes, Amelia Vassallo also registered an attempt but she too was denied by Schroeder. Cristina Correia made a final substitution bringing on Lana Beffort instead of Anna Miny in the 84th minute.

Having struck the woodwork twice, Malta’s efforts were rewarded in the 87th minute, through substitute Sara Saliba. She linked with Lexine Farrugia to nudge Malta back into the lead.

Luxembourg attempted to get a quick equaliser as they had done earlier in the match, but Erika Muscat kept her team in the lead by denying Lena Alves. Malta’s Vince Galea made two late changes in injury time, bringing on Nilayza Attard instead of Lexine Farrugia, and Suzanne Farrugia Sacco in replacement of Amelia Vassallo. Sara Saliba had a final attempt in the final throes of the match, but could not add to her tally, before the referee sounded the whistle.

Final Score: Luxembourg 1 – 2 Malta

Next Matches

The victory takes Malta level with Luxembourg on three points. Meanwhile, Croatia delivered another stellar performance against Azerbaijan, whom they also beat by 8-0, to maximise their points tally at the top of the group.

The final matchday will be on Sunday 8th October. It will pit Malta against Azerbaijan at noon, with the latter still searching for their first points from the matches. Meanwhile, the hosts Croatia will be looking to make it a perfect end to the week in their final match against Luxembourg.

Lead Image: Malta FA

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