Malta beat Lithuania 2-1 on the last day of the UEFA Under-19 Mini Tournament in Malta, a much deserved win for the local boys who played a splendid second half at the Centenary Stadium, turning the result around in their favour.
Coach Winston Muscat fielded the same eleven players as in Malta’s opening match against France, which also meant that goalkeeper Amara Sylla was back in goal after being replaced injured in the previous match against Belgium.
In the sixth minute Malta goalkeeper Sylla did well to turn a shot from Edgaras Utkus into a corner.
Five minutes later Lithuania took the lead. Striker Benas Anisas rounded off a quick counter-attack through the middle of the pitch which took the Maltese by surprise.
A header by Utkus on 22 minutes from a corner action just missed target.
The first real Maltese goalscoring opportunity arrived four minutes later when Alex Satariano sped unmarked towards Lithuanian goalkeeper Tomas Cepulis.
However, his low shot was saved by the tall shot-stopper.
On the half hour mark, Paul Mbong hesitated too long to shoot with his attempt being blocked into a corner by Ernestas Mockus.
In the 39th minute Sylla, in attempt to pass to a nearby player, passed straight into the feet of Artur Dolznikov, who however could not profit from this mistake as Sylla saved his attempt into a corner.
Early in the second half, substitute Matas Vereika could have doubled the score for the visitors after rounding Sylla but somehow simulated a foul but the referee signalled play-on.
Malta equalised one minute later via Satariano who rounded off good work from Carlo Zammit Lonardelli on the right.
A much-needed boost for the hosts who started to get in control of the match gradually. On the hour, Satariano had another great opportunity after getting past a defender in the box but his shot was saved by Cepulis.
On 63 minutes, an Ayrton Attard shot was blocked by the same Cepulis and from the rebound Zammit Lonardelli’s shot sailed over the crossbar.
Malta went into the lead on 64 minutes after a wonderful set-up by Satariano, who penetrated into the middle of the pitch with speed and served Zammit Lonardelli.
The hard-working midfielder passed the ball to Marcus Grima who rounded off with a beautiful chip over the goalkeeper.
A real picture goal and a much-deserved lead as the hosts were all over Lithuania in this period.
With ten minutes on the clock, Cepulis tipped an attempt from Grima over the crossbar. From the resultant corner-kick, Christian Gauci headed just wide.
Lithuania pressed hard and Utkus had an attempt on goal on the other side but Sylla saved his shot from just inside the box into a corner.
From a free-kick just outside the box, Mockus’ header from close-in in added time completely missed target while Utkus’ attempt in the literally the last second of the match was cleared by Dejan Debono on the goal-line.
Malta: Amara Sylla, Zak Grech, Dejan Debono, Christian Gauci, Adam Magri-Overend, Shawn Dimech, Carlo Zammit-Lonardelli, (Andrei Spiteri 88’), Marcus Grima, Ayrton Attard, Alex Satariano, (Matthew Portelli 90’), Paul Mbong, (Clyde Bouvet 75’).
GROUP 6
Final standings: France 7 (10-2); Belgium 5 (8-3); Malta 4 (3-3); Lithuania 0 (1-14).