Malta earn well deserved victory over San Marino

Malta started the match on a good note when on the 3rd minute, Daniel Bogdanovic went close when he took advantage of a bad clearance from their opponents.

San Marino managed to take the lead on the 8th minute when off a corner, Mirko Palazzi managed to deflect the ball in the direction of Manual Mariani who then went on to score from close range.
Five minutes later, Malta managed to score the equaliser. Michael Mifsud had his powerful shot beat goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini to make the score 1-1.

Malta managed to take control of the game on the 21st minute when they took the lead. Michael Mifsud served Andrei Agius who then left no chance for the San Marino goalkeeper with his shot.
In the second half, Malta had to wait till the 39th minute to practically seal their victory. Michael Mifsud was again the author of the goal with his rising shot beating Fedrico Valentini.

San Marino managed to close the gap when they were awarded a penalty in added time. From the penalty spot, Danilo Rinaldi beat goalkeeper Andrew Hogg with his shot to make the final score 3-2.

SAN MARINO Aldo Junior Simoncini (46′ Federico Valentini), Fabio Vitaioli (63′ Damiano Vannucci), Mirko Palazzi, Michele Cervellini, Davide Simoncini, Alessandro Della Valle (46′ Cristian Brolli), Enrico Cibelli (46′ Alessandro Bianchi), Alex Gasperoni, Danilo Rinaldi, Manuel Marani (79′ Simone Bacciocchi), Matteo Vitaioli (71′ Marco Muraccini).
Subs not used: Pier Filippo Mazza.

MALTA Andrew Hogg, Alex Muscat (86′ John Mintoff), Gareth Sciberras, Andrei Agius, Daniel Bogdanovic, Roderick Briffa (46′ Shaun Bajada), Michael Mifsud (86′ Paul Fenech), Andrew Cohen, Andre Schembri (46′ Etienne Barbara), Ryan Camilleri (54′ Luke Dimech), Steve Borg (62′ Ryan Fenech).
Subs not used: Justin Haber.
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referees: Massimo Zanotti, Andrea Guidi (SMR)
Fourth official: Johnny Casanova (SMR)