Malta U-21s suffer seventh straight defeat despite bright start

GEORGIA 4-1 MALTA
Tsulukidze 9; Sigua 21, 78; Narimanidze 42 (G); Ellul 2 (M)

Malta U-21s suffered their seventh consecutive defeat in the UEFA European Championship qualifiers, losing away to Georgia despite taking an early lead.

Davide Mazzotta’s side could not have asked for a better start. After just two minutes, Matthias Ellul struck a long-range effort that found the back of the net, marking Malta’s first goal of the qualifying campaign.

However, Malta’s lead was short-lived. Georgia equalised almost immediately when Luka Tsulukidze scored from close range following a well-worked set-piece routine that caught the Maltese players off guard.

After drawing level, the hosts began to increase the pressure and looked determined to take control of the match as quickly as possible. Georgia applied high pressure, disrupting Malta’s build-up from the back and forcing them to play long balls. This allowed the home side to regain possession quickly and dictate the tempo, driven forward by the energy of the home crowd.

Georgia made their pressure count when captain Gabriel Sigua, who is on loan at Lausanne from Basel, tapped into an empty net to make it 2-1. Moments later, he nearly added a third, but goalkeeper James Sissons produced a crucial save to keep Malta in the game.

Despite that save, Georgia remained the better side for the rest of the first half and continued pushing for more goals.

Their pressure paid off just before half-time when Aleksandre Narimanidze, who had already looked dangerous with his left foot, beat Sissons to extend the lead.

Trailing by two goals at the break, Malta were facing another difficult second half. They came close to reducing the deficit when Nicholas Agius attempted a lob that was cleared off the line by the Georgian defence. From the resulting corner, Malta struck the woodwork through Josh Pitts, coming within inches of getting back into the match.

But any hopes of a comeback were ended when Georgia scored a fourth goal, with captain Sigua grabbing his second of the match to seal the win.

The result leaves Malta anchored at the bottom of the group, having conceded 28 goals in seven matches – an average of four goals per game —-highlighting the difficult campaign the young Maltese side is enduring.