MALTA 0
DENMARK 8
The Malta women’s national team suffered another heavy defeat to Denmark in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 qualifier at the Centenary Stadium.
The Danes, ranked 16th in the world, secured an 8-0 victory over Malta to remain joint-leaders of Group B with Italy on 21 points.
Rachel Cuschieri captained Malta on her 66thcap, with defender Charlene Zammit making appearance her 70th appearance with the women’s team.
Denmark’s team included captain Pernille Harder who just joined Chelsea from Wolfsburg for a world record transfer fee.
The visitors made their intentions clear from the start as Sanne Troelsgaard let fly a shot from the edge of the area which was blocked by Janice Xuereb.
In the fourth minute, Nadia Nadim connected with a Nicoline Sorensen cross, but her effort sailed over.
Nonetheless, the Danes forged ahead in the sixth minute through a Stine Larsen header as the Aston Villa forward met a Pernille Harder cross.
Two minutes later, Denmark doubled their lead. Sofie Svava beat her marker on the left flank to send a whipping cross inside the box and this time it was Nadim who headed home.
Juventus midfielder Sofie Pedersen attempted a curling effort for a third but the Malta custodian was alert to avert the danger.
Denmark continued to peg the Maltese side back and they almost struck another on 17 minutes when skipper Harder fired over from close in.
Malta’s first attempt at goal was registered by Dorianne Theuma but her thumping volley went wide.
Denmark were on the frontfoot again, this time with Nadim who had another header on goal forcing Xuereb to clear on the goal line.
However, Nadim was not to be denied on the brink of half-time when she found the bottom corner from close-range to make it 3-0.
After the break, Denmark were in rampant form as Sanne Troelsgaard found the target from inside the penalty area.
Chelsea’s Harder netted Denmark’s fifth and her first of the game when she darted towards the goal before firing past Xuereb from a tight angle.
The away side continued to dominate proceedings and they managed to find a sixth through a Sofie Pedersen cross shot that surprised Malta’s number 1.
On 66 minutes, Denmark brought on Signe Bruun, of PSG, and she immediately left an impact as she tapped in her team’s seventh goal of the game.
Despite their big margin, Denmark kept coming forward and completed the rout through a Troelsgaard’s shot from long-range.
MALTA: J. Xuereb; E. Lipman, S. Farrugia, D. Theuma (70 A. Said), R. Cuschieri, A. Sultana, M. Farrugia, S. Zammit, J. Flask (31 N. Sciberras), C. Zammit, H. Bugeja (75 Y. Carabott).
DENMARK: K. Abel; R. Sevecke, S. Sorensen, S. Troelsgaard, N. Nadim (66 N. Christiansen), P. Harder (66 E. Snerle), K. Veje, S. Larsen, S. Pedersen (66 S. Bruun), N. Sorensen, S. Svava.
Referee: M. Madrona (Spain).
