Malta battled bravely against England at Wembley in their Euro 24 qualifier on Friday night.
The lads in red got off to an encouraging start with Teddy Teuma firing inches wide inside the opening minute.
A deflection off Enrico Pepe saw England take the lead on eight minutes but Malta stood strong and restricted the hosts to any sight of goal. In fact 70 minutes passed before England mustered any attempt at goal.
Top scorer Harry Kane did manage to save England’s embarrassment when he slotted home past Bonello with 75 minutes on the clock. Moments later England thought they had a third but Declan Rice’s effort was ruled out for an offside against Kane.
A 2-0 win for England but not their finest performance according to manager Gareth Southgate in a post-match interview. He gave credit to Malta who put in one of the better games, much better than their FIFA ranking of 167. Still no points for Malta but on this showing, against one of the top teams in the world, the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to shine brightly.
Photos: Domenic Aquilina.
