MALTA            0

LUXEMBOURG         2
Thill 47; Olesen 90

MALTA
H. Bonello; R. Camenzuli, K. Shaw, M. Guillaumier (87 B. Paiber), P. Mbong (A. Zammit), T. Teuma (36 J. Grech), I. Cardona, E. Pepe, I. Chouaref, Z. Muscat (78 J. Corbalan), A. Satariano (78 T. Buhagiar).

LUXEMBOURG
A. Moris; S. Korac, F. Bohnert, C. Martins, A. Dardari, D. Sinani, D. Carlson, V. Thill, L. Barreiro, L. Jans, M. Olesen.

Referee: Irfan Plejto (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Yellow cards: Satariano, Pepe.

Malta’s aspirations of securing a historic promotion in the UEFA Nations League are hanging in the balance after suffering a damaging 2-0 defeat to Luxembourg in the opening leg of the play-off at the National Stadium on Thursday.

Vincent Thill’s instinctive strike early in the second half and Mathias Olesen’s last-gasp goal turned out to be decisive in a clash which saw Luxembourg enjoying the majority of possession, but with the best scoring opportunities being created by the Maltese players.

Malta’s failure to take the chances that came their way ultimately proved costly as Luxembourg struck through their only two shots on goal to take charge of the tie ahead of next Tuesday’s second leg away from our shores.

The national team’s task is likely to be further hampered by the potential absence of influential midfielder Teddy Teuma, who picked up a muscular injury and faces a major race against time to be fit for the match.

Malta coach Emilio De Leo fielded his strongest side available for the match, with Henry Bonello starting in goal, Kurt Shaw, and Enrico Pepe forming the central defensive pairing with Zach Muscat and Ryan Camenzuli patrolling the flanks.

Alex Satariano and Matthew Guillaumier ran the team’s endine room with Teddy Teuma, Paul Mbong, and Yles Chouaref operating behind the main forward, Irvin Cardona.

The match was bereft of scoring chances for much of the opening 20 minutes as Luxembourg dominated possession with their slick passing play.

The home side tried to soak up the pressure and hit their opponents with swift transition play, mainly through vertical balls towards Cardona.

The first chance of the match arrived Luxembourg’s way on 23 minutes when Leandro Barreiro left the ball for Vincent Thill, who hit a thumping drive that just missed the upright.

Malta responded on 28 minutes when Teddy Teuma picked Chouaref in space, and his cross was met by Guillaumier, who shot straight at Luxembourg goalkeeper Anthony Moris.

The home side’s aspirations suffered a major blow on 34 minutes when Teddy Teuma suffered a muscle injury and was replaced by Jake Grech.

Malta had two huge chances just before the half-time interval when Jake Grech picked Cardona, whose first shot was blocked, and from the rebound he fired wide.

Then, Chouaref burst inside the area and was blocked by goalkeeper Antony Moris with the ball hitting Laurent Jans and bouncing off the upright.

Malta started the second half where they had left off when Cardona found Chouaref inside the area and the Sion forward tried to find Paul Mbong who failed to make good contact with the ball and fired wide.

Maltaw were quickly made to pay for that miss as on 47 minutes, Luxembourg struck.

Floriana Bohnert sent a dipping cross towards the far post, where Thill sneaked in between Camenzuli and Shaw to poke home.

Malta looked stunned and Chouaref tried to create a response but his shot was too central to trouble Moris.

The Maltese were struggling to show any fluency in their play, with the result that they were struggling to create any danger to their opponents’ defence.

Luxembourg effected a triple change on 68 minutes as goalkeeper Moris suffered an injury and was replaced by Tiago Pereira, who is on the books of Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Alman Dardari and Thill were replaced by Jayson Videira and Sebastian Thill, respectively.

Thirteen minutes from time, Malta missed a huge chance to equalise when Zach Muscat flipped the ball into the path of Satariano, who fired wide.

That turned out to be their final contribution, as a minute later, they were replaced by Juan Corbalan and Trent Buhagiar.

Buhagiar had a huge opportunity to score the equaliser in the first minute of stoppage time when Chouaref sped through and squared the ball to the Australian-born player who fired wide from routine distance.

It was Luxembourg who had the final say as in the third minute of stoppage time, the visitors sealed their win when Mathias Olesen scored directly from a corner kick to kill off the home side’s hopes of avoiding defeat.