Malta 0
Croatia 1
Perisic 25;

In keeping with the watertight security in and around the National Stadium, Malta looked a lot more secure and confident than in their capitulation to Norway on Saturday but their efforts failed to reap the desired rewards as Croatia eked out a 1-0 win to seal their passage to next year’s European Championship.

Ivan Perisic’s deflected effort after 25 minutes settled this somewhat surreal encounter where the Croatians had plenty to ponder, not least the behaviour of their notorious fans who were denied access to the stadium as well as events in Rome as they needed Italy to avoid defeat to Norway to secure an automatic place in next year’s Euro 2016 finals.

All is well that ends well, the clichè goes, and that was certainly the case for Croatia who will also have been delighted that the game passed off without incident.

What can we say about Malta?

It was never going easy for our team to nullify the threat of this star-studded Croatia side in a game overshadowed by concerns of crowd trouble but, to their credit, they did make a contest of it.

They strode on to the pitch bristling with determination as they craved a positive result to end their Euro 2016 qualifying trek on a high.

Malta were compact at the back, enterprising in midfield where Bjorn Kristensen, who started ahead of Paul Fenech, had a positive outing, and livelier in attack, albeit they seldom troubled Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.

Andrè Schembri was Malta’s stand-out performer as the Omonia forward, playing off Alfred Effiong, was at the heart of the hosts’ best moves.

His propensity to drop back, shield the ball and take on players conjured up some inviting openings for Malta, especially early in the second half, but our team just lacked the instinct and flair to make more of an impact in attack.

There were other notable performers for the home team, especially Joseph Zerafa who was full of guts and energy on the right flank, Clayton Failla, who was back to his usual self on the left, and Rowen Muscat in the middle.

Another qualifying competition has come to an end for Malta.

It has been another up-and-down campaign with Malta garnering only two points but, in the main, the performances were satisfactory, especially defensive-wise, but we were generally lightweight in attack, an area that needs addressing if our national team are to reach the next level.

It said all about the fans’ satisfaction at the team tenacious showing last night that the Malta players were applauded off the pitch at the final whistle as Croatia celebrated their progress to the Euro finals in front of a handful of officials and guests of their association.

The Croatian FA, led by former stalwart Davor Suker, were relieved that the Maltese authorities had done a great job in keeping the hot-headed fans away from the stadium but it required a massive security operation to do that with hundreds of officers, including a unit in anti-riot gear, patrolling the Ta’ Qali area before, during and after the game.

A group of around 100 Croatian supporters tried to purchase tickets from locals outside the Millennium Stand but they were turned away.

Undeterred by reports of incidents involving Croatia fans in the build-up to the game, Maltese supporters, led by the South End Core group, turned up in large numbers.

Ghedin’s initial XI featured two changes from the 2-0 defeat in Norway as young Hibs midfielder Kristensen was preferred to Fenech while Zerafa replaced Alex Muscat at right-back.

The tactical module was the same with Andrei Agius, Steve Borg and Zach Muscat filling the centre-half roles and Failla on the left.

In midfield, Roderick Briffa, wearing the captain’s armband as Michael Mifsud was again left out of the team, and Rowen Muscat partnered Kristensen with Schembri behind striker Effiong.

Injury deprived Croatia coach Ante Cacic of creative Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, who was on the bench, and Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic.

Fiorentina striker Nikola Kalinic was the attacking fulcrum in Cacic’s 4-2-3-1 formation with Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic roaming behind.

It augured well for Malta that, in the opening eight minutes, they probably strung up more passes than they did through Saturday’s defeat in Oslo.

It was not before the 10th minute that Croatia fashioned their first chance. Fastening on to Vedran Corluka’s long ball, Kalinic nipped behind the Maltese defence but his diagonal shot was pawed away by Andrew Hogg. The loose ball landed at the feet of Kalinic but, under pressure from Agius, he blasted over.

Minutes later, Perisic volleyed wide after meeting Rakitic’s crossfield pass from midfield.

Home optimism rose when Kristensen galloped forward through the middle before passing to Schembri who teed up Briffa with a back-heeled flick but the Malta captain miscued his shot.

Malta were alive and kicking.

A delightful one-two between Schembri and Briffa had Croatia chasing shadows but the pass towards Effiong was intercepted.

On 18 minutes, Effiong embarked on one of his trademark runs after being put through by Schembri but Corluka dashed across to quell the danger.

At the other end, Srna fizzed a dangerous cross across the face of goal but the ball just eluded Perisic.

There was also a good chance for Malta as Schembri’s through-ball by-passed Domagoj Vida who could only get a faint touch to the ball.

Effiong raced through but appeared to be hauled down by goalkeeper Subasic but English referee Mark Clattenburg waved away Malta’s penalty claims.

The game remained lively with Malta giving as much they got.

Perisic’s downward header, from another Srna cross, was high but, on 25 minutes, Croatia drew first blood.

Mateo Kovacic’s pass inside the box was partially cleared by Malta as the ball dropped invitingly for Perisic whose angled shot took a deflection off Borg and flew past the diving Hogg.

Borg then denied Perisic a second goal as the towering defender hurled his body in the way of the Inter forward who had been set up by Rakitic.

Croatia worked up a head of steam, Marko Pjaca lifting his shot over the bar at the far post after another teasing cross from Rakitic.

As the end of the first half approached, Malta settled. They survived a minor scare when Perisic barreled forward on the right before delivering a cross that was smothered away by Hogg.

The hosts began the second half on a heartening note. Schembri tricked his way into the box only to be held off by Corluka.

Another Malta raid saw Kristensen and Schembri trading passes on the edge of the box. The Croatia defenders could only divert the ball towards Failla whose stringing drive was too central to unsettle Subasic.

Anxiety gripped the red-shirted players when Croatia broke on the counter through Rakitic who picked out Pjaca. The Dinamo Zagreb forward surged past Zach Muscat before dragging in a low cross-shot that Zerafa just managed to deflect past the far post.

On another occasion, Andrej Kramaric mustered a powerful drive from an angle but Hogg was alert to the danger.

Feeding off Schembri’s unrelenting probing, Malta continued to pose an attacking threat.

The Omonia forward slipped a through-ball to Effiong midway into the second half but Subasic charged out to close down the Balzan striker.

The home fans regained their voice as shouts of ‘Malta, Malta’ resonated around the stadium.

With 15 minutes remaining, Mifsud came on for Effiong for his 113th Malta appearance.

Pjaca drifted infield from the right before firing a low shot that was touched away by Hogg.

As the game drifted into the last six minutes, Failla floated a dangerous cross from a right-wing free-kick but Croatia cleared.

In a carbon-copy move, Agius’s far-post header, from Failla’s cross, was stopped by Subasic.

When, deep into stoppage time, substitute Andrew Cohen won a free-kick, the crowd called on goalkeeper Hogg to race into the opposing box but Failla overhit his free-kick and Subasic blocked easily.

Malta
A. Hogg, A. Agius, S. Borg, J. Zerafa, C. Failla, R. Briffa (79 P. Fenech), R. Muscat, B. Kristensen, Z. Muscat, A. Schembri (90 A. Cohen), A. Effiong (75 M. Mifsud).

Croatia
D. Subasic, I. Perisic, V. Corluka, I. Rakitic (77 M. Brozovic), M. Pjaca (83 I. Olic), D. Srna, N. Kalinic (59 A. Kramaric), M. Badelj, M. Kovacic, D. Vida, J. Pivaric.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg.

Yellow cards: Badelj; Failla; Perisic.

Attendance: 5,825.

Malta players’ ratings
Hogg-6, Agius-6.5, Borg-6.5, Zerafa-7, Failla-7, Briffa-6.5, R. Muscat-7, Kristensen-6.5, Z. Muscat-6, Schembri-8, Effiong-6.

Aftermatch comments

Pietro Ghedin (Malta coach): “It was a good performance from Malta. Every player did his job well. I was expecting a powerful performance from Croatia because they are a very good team and needed the points to qualify. Today, we showed that with right attitude and preparation, we can compete at this level.

“Overall, we had good performances during the Group H qualifiers. From the national teams finishing at the bottom of each group, we have the best goal difference (-13) which should mean something for us. We did our best and limited the damage.”

Ante Cacic (Croatia coach): “It is a fantastic feeling to take Croatia to our ninth major tournament from 11 attempts (as an independent nation). All credit to the players for pulling their socks up and grinding out the results we needed after two slip-ups, we deserved to finish in the top two and qualify automatically.”