Muscat's saves, late flourish spare Malta's blushes

Malta 0
Moldova 0

February 14 is Valentine's Day, the feast of love and romance. Optimists will have harboured hopes that the flailing romance between the Maltese soccer fraternity and our national team would receive a boost in the shape of a sound performance and a victory over Moldova in their first match from the 12th International Tournament.

It was not to be. A goalless draw after a generally disjointed display by Horst Heese's new-look Malta team, devoid of most of its tried and trusted exponents such as Gilbert Agius, Michael Mifsud, George Mallia, Chucks Nwoko and Luke Dimech, are unlikely to soften the scepticism.

For most of yesterday's match, which also marked Joe Brincat's international farewell, Malta played second fiddle to their quick Moldovan opponents and had goalkeeper Mario Muscat to thank for keeping the score at 0-0.

Muscat was undoubtedly one of our best performers but Etienne Barbara's impact, after coming on for the last 26 minutes, was equally eye-catching as Malta only stirred after his arrival.

Brincat was presented with a memento by MFA president Joe Mifsud in recognition of his contribution to the national team in a career spanning 16 years. Wearing the captain's armband, Brincat yesterday donned the Maltese shirt for the 103rd and final time.

A minute silence in memory of former Malta and Sliema Wanderers stalwart Robbie Buttigieg, who died last week, was also impeccably observed by the players and the few hundreds who showed up at Ta' Qali.

Moldova dictated the early tempo against a hesitant Maltese team who struggled to infuse a semblance of cohesion in their game.

Ivan Woods, yesterday partnered by Pietà team-mate and debutant Cleaven Frendo in attack, looked to have legitimately won possession on the edge of the area but Belarus referee Valery Vialichka stopped play for a foul.

Malta's shaky start could have been exacerbated by an early Moldova breakthrough. A fine reflex save by Muscat from an Alexei Savinov piledriver, after 19 minutes, denied the visitors who were by far the brighter side.

Five minutes later, Moldova toyed with the Malta defence once again. Vadim Boret twisted and turned before striking the ball towards goal where Muscat flung to his left to repel his effort. The ball squirmed into the path of Alexandru Golban who hit it into the net but his effort was ruled out for offside.

The eerie silence on the stands mirrored the shoddy standards blighting Malta's performance in the first half hour. The evident difficulties in countering the speed and agility of Moldova's attacking players did anything but reflect positively on the players' physical condition. A recurring theme of our disjointed display was the cheap use of possession in our own half, a failure which often caused undue pressure on Heese's four-in-line defence.

Eight minutes from the break, Golban towered above Chetcuti to meet a cross from Nicolai Josan but his header was blocked by Muscat.

Heese had planned to substitute Brincat early in the first half but the veteran Sliema stalwart was the only white-shirted player who looked capable of supplying some creativity in the middle.

He was hauled off two minutes before the interval and received an ovation from the fans. His place was taken by Sciberras and the captain's armband handed to Chetcuti.

The second half continued in as much the same vein as the first with Moldova, driven on by skipper Serghei Covalciuc, posing great problems to the Malta defence. Once, Muscat rushed out of goal to block on Denis Calincov.

In the meantime, Antoine Zahra had replaced William Camenzuli at the start of the second period. Judging by the positional changes in the team, Zahra's introduction was meant to quicken the pace in attack as the Hibs livewire picked up a forward position and Frendo dropped back to midfield before he made way for Barbara 26 minutes from time.

Twelve minutes after the restart, Golban dived to head a cross from Boret but the ball sailed wide and later Muscat distinguished himself with a fine save from Calincov's thunderbolt.

It was no coincidence that Barbara sparked an impro-vement in Malta's performance. Top scorer for Mar-saxlokk in the league with 14 goals, the 23-year-old Barbara set about his task of harrying opponents and strutting around in search of space from where he could possibly launch dangerous attacks.

On one occasion, Barbara beat two players but stumbled as he was about to enter the box. In another instance, he latched on to a Chetcuti pass, powered into the box but dithered on the ball and the chance was lost.

Three minutes from time, Malta may have notched an unlikely winner when Zahra was quick to pounce on a misplaced backpass but his shot flew over.

Moldova had coach Victor Pasulko ordered off the bench for protesting with the referee. Vialichka had cautioned Golban for elbowing Stefan Giglio, yesterday deployed in defence.

Barbara's enterprise was evident once more in the dying moments when his run again unnerved the Moldovan rearguard, he switched the ball towards the centre of the box where Zahra pulled the triggered but his attempt was deflected away by Alexandru Melenciuc.

Malta's late flourish was marred by the last-minute expulsion of Sciberras for a lunge on Golban.

Malta: M. Muscat, I. Azzopardi, J. Chetcuti, B. Said, W. Camenzuli (A. Zahra 45), S. Giglio, N. Turner, C. Mattocks, I. Woods, J. Brincat (G. Sciberras 43), C. Frendo (E. Barbara 64).

Moldova: A. Melenciuc, L. Andriuta, C. Popov, N. Josan (A. Namasco 74), V. Catinsus, A. Savinov, S. Covalciuc (B. Cebotari 81), A. Corneencov, A. Golban, V. Boret (I. Teste-Mitanu 67), D. Calincov.

Referee: Valery Vialichka (Belarus).

Yellow Cards: Mattocks 12; Golban 89.

Red Card: Sciberras 90.