Late France goals floor battling Malta

A bold display by Mark Miller's Malta U-21s was undone by two late goals as France gained their third victory in as many matches.

Not for the first time, a Maltese team crumbled in the final stages of the match after conceding a goal at a stage when a goal for the home side had looked more likely. Miller's boys showed great commitment and a desire to hold their own against the talented though unimpressive French, but were again found wanting in attack.

Malta survived a scare after six minutes when Florten Sinama Pongolle advanced unimpeded only to chip the ball high. Justin Haber then came to Malta's rescue when blocking a Habib Bamogo drive.

Malta relied on quick counter-thrusts. In one such instance, Trevor Cilia, Roderick Briffa and Kevin Sammut combined to unnerve the erstwhile untroubled French defence that drove the ball away to safety.

Midway through the half, some deft footwork by Shaun Bajada, who received Miller's nod ahead of Clint Micallef, won Malta a free-kick from which Cilia's swerving cross was blocked by Nicolas Penneteau.

However, Malta had Clifton Ciantar to thank for denying the French a breakthrough when clearing over the line a goalbound Alou Diarra header.

For the first time in the match, Malta's defence was caught off balance when Mathis advanced before he squared the ball for the unmarked Bamogo who blasted wide.

That only proved a temporary reprieve, however, as France were in front after 29 minutes, Sinama Pongolle profiting from a glaring defensive mistake to poke the ball into an unguarded net after Haber and Barbara failed to deal with a seemingly innocuous cross.

Malta could have restored equilibrium three minutes later when Sammut recovered possession deep in France's half and served the steaming Briffa whose angled drive was deflected away by the French goalkeeper. This gave Malta the courage to venture out with more conviction, Bondin and Bajada fashioning shots which Penneteau saved.

Although the hosts did try to bring some fluidity to their attack, they looked to lack bite in the final third due to the absence of pure strikers.

Early in the second half, Haber tipped away a Bamogo scorcher but that was the closest France came to adding to their tally in the first 10 minutes. The battling Maltese had the best chance of the second half when a quickly taken free-kick by Bajada caught the French unawares, the unchallenged Sammut attempting a low drive which was just deflected away for a corner.

Another Sammut thunderbolt was then saved by the French custodian as Malta's reaction gained momentum. Their efforts were almost undone by some lax marking inside the box as Sinama Pongolle's floated free-kick was met with a powerful header from Anthony Le Tallec which Haber smothered away.

Antoine Zahra, back in the frame after recovering from an injury, was brought on for Cilia to widen Malta's attacking spectrum. But the Maltese hopes of an equaliser were crushed when France doubled their lead 11 minutes from the end.

It was a gem of a goal from Bamogo who unleashed a first-time volley straight into the top corner.

Ray Domenech's side even found the time to score another goal, Le Tallec beating Haber with a low shot on the stroke of time.

Miller disappointed

"I'm very disappointed with the result," Mark Miller said. "I felt that if Kevin Sammut had scored that goal in the second half and equalised for Malta it would have stayed like that. But that's always buts and ifs in football.

"Having said that I think we played better than the previous match against Israel."

Miller will be leaving the island today on his way to Denmark to join the U-17 national team who yesterday fell to a heavy 8-0 defeat in their Euro Championship mini-tournament opener against Sweden at the Horsens Stadium.