Malta suffered a narrow 2-0 defeat against Cyprus on Tuesday in a close U15 international friendly that was filled with chances at both ends.
The match was off to a quick start, with both teams looking to get a foothold on the possession.
Cyprus took the lead after just four minutes, after Andreas Pieri freed himself of his marker, before tucking the ball past goalkeeper Noah Mulholland.
Mulholland was called into action again moments later, as the ball fell to Aleksandros Skender, who made a run from the left, yet his strike was excellently saved by the Maltese goalkeeper. Immediately from the save, Malta broke free, and a pass from Matthew Higgans put Lukas Wright through, yet his left-footed effort went narrowly wide of the post.
Malta settled down after the early setback and were starting to have more of the ball in midfield.
The home side came very close to getting back on level terms in the 29th minute, as an excellent pass found Wright, who went past the goalkeeper, yet his effort from a tight angle was cleared from off the line by the Cyprus defenders.
Cyprus maintained their threat going forward, and in the 33rd minute a free-kick from goalscorer Pieri went narrowly wide of the goal.
Wright had another opportunity to get Malta level in the 35th minutre. A loose ball fell to the Maltese forward on the edge of the penalty area, and after carving out some space for himself, his shot went on the wrong side of the post.
In the 38th minute, Cyprus came close to doubling their lead, after a cross from the left was not cleared by the Maltese defence, and when the ball fell to Paris Kimonos, his shot cannoned off the bar and out for a goal-kick.
Following the break, Cyprus started on the front foot yet again, and after a nicely-worked move, Giannis Argyridis was free on the right wing, yet his powerful shot hit the post.
Malta got their first opportunity of the half in the 52nd minute, when a quick counter-attack was led by Higgans, who went past his marker before squaring it to Wright, yet his attempt was saved by Giorgos Demetriou.
However, Cyprus eventually doubled their advantage in the 57th minute after a mix-up in the penalty area following a cross, with the ball ending up in the feet of Argyris Panayiotou, who slotted the ball into the net.
Cyprus continued to threaten while Malta pushed for a goal to get them back into the game. The home side almost got their goal in the 75th minute, after Matteo Mangion was left unmarked in the penalty area to meet a cross, yet his header went narrowly wide.
Malta came close again in the 82nd minute, when a cross from the right from Kenzil Vella found Jayden Roe. He produced a neat turn before hitting a strike that was tipped away for a corner by Demetriou.
Malta pressed in search of a late goal, yet they could not break down the Cypriot defence, and the match finished 2-0 to the visitors.
The two sides will meet for another international friendly match on Thursday 13th March at 14:00hrs, also at the Centenary Stadium.
U15 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY
Centenary Stadium, 11.03.2025
MALTA…0
CYPRUS…2
(HT 0-1)
4’ Andreas Pieri (CYP), 57’ Argyris Panayiotou (CYP)
Malta
12 Noah Mulholland (GK), 2 Luke Buttigieg (13 Liam Gatt 65’), 3 Giorgio Cristauro (22 Liam Galea 78’), 4 Zayden Azzopardi (20 Jake Bonnici 65’), 5 Jayden Roe, 6 Matteo Mangion, 7 Cole Zerafa (14 Mateja Stevanovic 46’, 17 Kenzil Vella 78’), 8 Ayrem Aquilina, 9 Lukas Wright, 10 Nicholas Busuttil (C), 11 Matthew Higgans (16 Jerome Gaffiero 78’)
Coach: Jonathan Holland
Cyprus
1 Giorgos Demetriou (GK), 2 Theos Ignatios Kazakaios (C) (20 Panagiotis Siderenios 46’), 3 Marios Epifaniou, 4 Theodoros Panagi (6 Giorgos Makkoulas 39’), 5 Athos Kounounis (13 Ektoras Panayiotou 71’), 7 Konstantinos Aggelidis (9 Giannis Argyridis 46’), 8 Andreas Pieri, 14 Alexandros Skender (10 Argyris Panayiotou 46’), 17 Andreas Christou (15 Giorgos Vattis 65’), 18 Paris Kimonos (11 Filippos Lytras 46’), 19 Giorgis Charalambous (16 Ntemis Dimitris Michail 46’)
Coach: Michalis Ioannou
Yellow Cards: Matteo Mangion (MLT)
