Greece hit five past Malta U-21 in Euro Championship qualifier

For Malta, this was their sixth successive defeat in the group, and more worrying, the team have yet to score their first goal in this edition of the qualifying competition and has conceded a staggering 24 goals so far.

On Tuesday, the Maltese youngsters face another daunting task when they head to the Balkans to face Georgia, who had beaten Davide Mazzotta’s team 5-0 in the first match played in Malta.

Greece started on the front foot and took the lead in the 16th minute.

Charalampos Kostoulas found Konstantinos Gkoumas, and he slotted the ball past Malta goalkeeper James Sissons.

 Malta responded on 21 minutes when Kai Giyan Bartolio’s shot was saved by Greek goalkeeper Nikolaos Botis.

Seconds later, Sissons distinguished himself when he palmed away Dimitriois Chatsidis’s shot.

However, Greece doubled their advantage in the 23rd minute, when a corner was swung into the penalty area, and Georgios Koutsias was at the back post to slot the ball into the net.

The Malta goalkeeper was kept busy and five minutes from the break he did well to palm away a deflected shot.

Greece took little time to add a third goal on the restart as Dimitrios Kaloskamis scored with a neat finish.

The home side extended their lead on the hour mark when they were awarded a penalty, and Koutsias calmly dispatched to make it 4-0.

Greece sealed their comprehensive win when, in a swift break, Koutsias was again on the scoresheet to complete his hat-trick.