MALTA 1
Hein 56 og
ESTONIA 2
Vassiljev 21; Anier 90
Malta
H. Bonello, R. Camenzuli, S. Borg, M. Guillaumier (79 D. Vella), J. Mbong, J. Degabriele (79 L. Gambin), B. Paiber, E. Pepe, A. Satariano (67 L. Montebello), T. Teuma, J. Borg (84 Z. Muscat).
Estonia
K. Hein, M. Kait, M. Soomets, E. Sorga (59 H. Anier), K. Vassiljev (90 M. Miller), M. Paskotsi, J. Tamm, R. Kirss (59 S. Zenjov), K. Mets, K. Kallaste, T. Teniste.
Referee Robert Madden (Scotland FA).
Yellow cards Kait, Guillaumier, Zenjov.
Missed penalty: Teuma (M) 16.
Malta’s hopes of winning promotion in the UEFA nations League suffered a huge blow last night as a Henri Anier goal in stoppage time handed Estonia a crucial 2-1 win at the National Stadium.
It was a disappointing outcome to a match which had seen Malta battle back bravely to level a match which had looked to have taken a difficult twist when the team found themselves behind midway through the second half.
But poor defending in the closing stages of the match was severely punished by the Estonians who scored a crucial victory.
The Maltese players will surely have a recriminations from a match that could have started so well when the home side were awarded a penalty on 16 minutes only for Teddy Teuma to see his effort from the spot saved by Karl Hein.
Then proceedings at the National Stadium took a turn for the worse as Malta soon found themselves a goal behind to a Konstantin Vassiljev strike.
That goal hit hard the Maltese who looked second best for the rest of the half with the home fans growing increasingly anxious on what they were seeing.
But after the break, the Maltese looked a re-energised lot and their efforts were rewarded with a somewhat fortuitous equaliser that came from a hash clearance from Hein that deviated Degabriele’s cross into the net and Malta were on course to at least take a point.