The Malta Under-21 side suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Slovenia in a match from Group 8 of the UEFA Under-21 Championship at the Sportni Park in Nova Gorica on Friday.
The hosts scored the all-important goal three minutes after the restart when substitute Leon Crncic collected an excellent pass by Rene Mihelic and finished off in style. 
The best chances for Malta occurred in the second half with Tyrone Farrugia going close with a header and then with a Richard Chetcuti effort just missing the target.
Joseph Zerafa was sent off one minute from time.
This was the fifth defeat for Edwin Camilleri’s side. Following a 0-2 defeat to Slovenia at the Hibs Ground in March, Malta lost narrowly in Ukraine in June. In September, they lost 0-1 to Belgium while last month, they lost 0-2 to France. The team is therefore still in search of the first goal and first point.
SLOVENIA Nejc Vidmar, Aljaz Struna, Matija Škarabot, Nikola Tolimir, Jovan Vidovic, Kevin Kampl, Tim Matavz (91′ Alen Vuckic), Rene Mihelic (71′ Rajko Rep), Vito Plut (46′ Leon Crncic), Boris Mijatovic, Danijel Marceta.
MALTA Henry Bonello, Beppe Muscat, Joseph Zerafa, Steve Borg, Ryan Camilleri, Tyron Farrugia, Terence Vella (78′ Kane Micallef), Mark Scerri, Julian Galea, Miguel Ciantar (52′ Clifford Gatt Baldacchino), Richard Chetcuti.
Referee: Anastassios Kakos (GRE)