Valletta will head into next week’s second leg of their UEFA Conference League second qualifying round tie with work to do after suffering a 3-1 defeat to Polish side Raków Częstochowa in the first leg.
Despite the scoreline, the Citizens can take plenty of encouragement from an impressive display against one of the competition’s strongest sides, with a missed second-half penalty proving to be the turning point of the match.
Valletta shocked their hosts by taking the lead in the first half and created enough opportunities to leave Poland with a positive result before Raków’s quality eventually told in the closing stages.
Raków made the brighter start, forcing goalkeeper Adilson Maringa into an excellent save from Michał Ameyaw’s powerful strike after just two minutes.
As the half progressed, Valletta grew into the contest and almost opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Jake Azzopardi’s cross was blocked by a defender, with the rebound falling kindly for Andrea Zammit, whose effort was brilliantly pushed away by goalkeeper Kacper Trelowski.
The breakthrough arrived five minutes later. Thaylor Aldama created space down the right before delivering a precise cross to Manuel Morello, who finished first time to give Valletta a surprise 1-0 lead.
Raków responded positively, with Maringa producing another fine save to deny Vladyslav Kochergin before Diogo Tavares made a vital goal-line clearance to prevent Mahir Emreli from equalising after a defensive mistake.
Just before half-time, Maringa came to Valletta’s rescue once again, stretching full length to push away a powerful effort from Adriano Molnar and preserve his side’s advantage.
The Polish side increased the pressure after the restart and found the equaliser in the 56th minute. Maringa initially made a superb one-handed save to keep out Ameyaw’s header, but the rebound fell kindly for Emreli, who made no mistake with his second attempt.
Raków almost completed the turnaround moments later when Jean Carlos fired over the crossbar from a promising position.
Valletta coach Thane Micallef responded by introducing Petar Sekulović and Roko Prša as the visitors looked to regain control.
The Citizens were handed a golden opportunity to restore their lead in the 73rd minute when they were awarded a penalty after Raków striker Patryk Makuch was penalised for handling the ball inside the area.
However, Sekulović failed to capitalise, blasting his spot-kick over the crossbar.
The miss proved costly.
Just three minutes later, Raków completed the comeback when Makuch collected the ball just outside the area before drilling a low shot beyond Maringa to make it 2-1.
The home side continued to press and sealed the victory in stoppage time when defender Stratos Svarnas rose to score Raków’s third goal of the evening.
Although Valletta now trail by two goals, their performance in Poland showed they are capable of troubling their highly-rated opponents and they will look to produce another spirited display when the sides meet again in next week’s second leg in Malta.
Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist
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