An attacking display from the Malta U21 National Team did not prove enough to get a win on Tuesday evening, with Georgia emerging victorious thanks to some ruthless finishing.
Malta made a quickfire start to the match, putting the pressure on the Georgian backline, and in the second minute, Mattias Ellul received the ball on the edge of the penalty area, before hitting a beautiful driven strike to give Malta the lead.
However, Georgia equalised shortly after, with Luka Tsulukidze getting on the end of a free-kick, heading into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
James Sissons was called into action in the 15th minute, when Aleksandre Narimanidze hit a long-range shot that was saved by the Maltese goalkeeper. Just a few minutes later, Narimanidze tried his luck from range again, and while Sissons stopped the initial shot, Gabriel Sigua was on hand to connect with the rebound, putting Georgia in front.
Malta settled down after the Georgia second, and they slowed the pace down, but Georgia were looking to pin them back. With the Maltese defence dropping deeper, Narimanidze hit another powerful shot in the 42nd minute, and it sailed into the top corner, making it 3-1 to Georgia. The score remained that way going into the break.
Malta started the second half very well, and in the 56th minute, a fine cross from Ellul found Nicholas Agius, who did brilliantly to control the ball and lift it over Papuna Beruashvili, but the ball was acrobatically cleared from off the line by Narimanidze. From the resulting corner, Malta could have scored again, with the ball falling to Joshua Pitts, who hit a powerful strike, but it crashed against the bar, going agonisingly out.
Malta were looking strong in and out of possession, pressing Georgia well for large parts of the half.
However, the home side made it 4-1 in the 78th minute, when a free-kick led to Sigua getting on the end of the ball first, tucking into the net.
Malta looked to respond straight away, and after some neat build-up play down the left, Lucas Caruana found Brooklyn Borg on the edge of the penalty area, with the Maltese midfielder turning quickly, but his shot went over the bar.
Malta pushed until the very end in search of another goal, but they could not find the net again, and the match finished 4-1 to Georgia.
UEFA EUROPEAN U21 CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER
31.03.2026
Ramaz Shengelia Stadium, Georgia
GEORGIA…4
MALTA…1
(HT 3-1)
2’ Mattias Ellul (MLT), 9’ Luka Tsulukidze (GEO), 21’ Gabriel Sigua (GEO), 42’ Aleksandre Narimanidze (GEO), 78’ Gabriel Sigua (GEO)
Georgia
23 Papuna Beruashvili (GK), 3 Aleksandre Amisulashvili, 4 Aleksandre Narimanidze (7 Akaki Giunashvili, 68’), 5 Saba Kharebashvili, 7 Luka Tsulukidze (11 Nikoloz Chikovani, 58’), 8 Irakli Egoyan, 10 Gabriel Sigua (C), 16 Niko Testskhladze, 19 Gurami Japaridze (9 Diego Deisadze, 46’), 20 Nikoloz Dadiani (18 Tsotne Berelidze, 89’), 22 Luka Parkadze (14 Andria Bartishvili, 58’)
Coach: Ramaz Svanadze
Malta
23 James Sissons (GK), 2 Kean Scicluna, 3 Mattias Ellul, 9 Nicholas James Agius, 11 Nathan Cross, 13 Deacon Abela, 15 Kaiden Fenech (10 Jake Grech, 85’), 16 Jake Micallef (C), 18 Daniel Letherby (7 Brooklyn Borg, 66’), 20 Joshua Pitts, 22 Kai Giyan Bartolo (21 Sean Gatt, 66’)
Coach: Davide Mazzotta
Referee: Seth Galia (GIB)
Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist
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