MALTA            1

P. Mbong 12

UKRAINE         3

Camenzuli 38og

Dovbyk 43 pen.

Mudryk 86

MALTA

H. Bonello, R. Camenzuli, S. Borg, M. Guillaumier, J. Mbong (78 C. Attard), P. Mbong (86 L. Montebello), E. Pepe, K. Nwoko (68 A. Satariano), N. Muscat (66 B. Kristensen), Y. Yankam (86 S. Pisani), J. Borg.

UKRAINE

Ai. Trubin, S. Sydorchuk, G. Sudakov (66 Y. Nazaryna), M. Mudryk, A. Dovbyk, I. Zabarnyi, V. Mykolenko, O. Zinchenko (86 O. Pikhalonok), V. Vanat (66 Y. Konoplia), O. Karavalev (75 O. Zubkov), M. Matviyenko (46 O. Svatok).

Referee Morten Krogh (Denmark).

Yellow cards Matviyenko, Pisani, Zubkov.

The Malta national team players experienced first-hand last night how harsh football can be after they produced their best performance in the Euro 2024 qualifiers but still suffered a 3-1 defeat to Ukraine at the National Stadium.

Coming into the match on the back of a disappointing performance in a 4-0 thumping to Italy at the San Nicola Stadium in Bari, few had predicted that the Maltese players could go toe to toe with a Ukrainian team who are fighting for a place in next year’s European Championship finals.

But the home side produced the right response to the barrage of criticism received in the aftermath of the Italy match with a sound attacking performance that left the few thousand of Maltese fans dreaming of an upset.

In fact, the Maltese came out of the blocks like a team on a mission and their adventurous approach was rewarded with a fine opener from Paul Mbong.

The Ukrainians looked stunned and despite their efforts to claw themselves into the match they were thwarted by the home side who produced a hard-working display that saw them close all avenues to their opponents.

Read full match report on sport.timesofmalta.com