Malta suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Belarus in the second of two international friendly matches on Tuesday after a tight clash at the Centenary Stadium.

The match started as a very cagey affair, with the opening 20 minutes largely being played in midfield.

Malta’s first major opportunity came in the 31st minute, when Yulya Carella found Haley Bugeja on the edge of the penalty area, who controlled it brilliantly before finding Kailey Willis, yet her attempt was excellently saved by Katerina Miklashevich.

In the 35th minute, Belarus came close to opening the scoring, when the ball fell to Karyna Alkhovik in the penalty area, but just as she was going to fire a shot towards goal, Stephania Farrugia slid in to make a stunning block, denying the forward.

Alkhovik would get her goal just moments later though, as she was fed a through ball, from the right, before slotting the ball into the back of the net.

Malta had another attempt right before the break, as Bugeja was found on the right, she skipped past a defender before hitting a shot that was comfortably saved by Miklashevich.

In the second half, the game was much more open, with both teams having more space to run in behind. In the 52nd minute, Belarus squandered a golden opportunity to double their lead, after Alkhovik received the ball from the right wing, yet her effort sailed over the bar from close range.

Malta came close to equalising in the 55th minute, when Bugeja’s shot was blocked by the Belarus defenders, but only in the path of Rachel Cuschieri, whose attempted strike was excellently stopped by the goalkeeper.

Malta pressed the Belarus backline in search of an equaliser, and while they had a couple of attempts from long range, they could not trouble the Belarus goalkeeper, and the match finished 1-0 to the visitors.

Malta
1 Giulia D’Antuono (GK) (12 Maya Cachia, 46’), 3 Oceane Grange (17 Leah Ayres, 71’), 5 Stephania Farrugia (7 Amber Grech, 85’), 8 Rachel Cuschieri (C) (15 Tammy Falzon, 71’), 9 Kailey Willis (14 Shona Zammit, 62’), 10 Maria Farrugia (16 Leanne Cefai, 85’), 18 Emma Xuereb (11 Alexandra Marcella Gatt, 46’), 19 Yulya Carella, 20 Nicole Sciberras, 21 Haley Bugeja, 22 Rebecca Bajada
Coach: Manuela Tesse

Belarus
22 Katerina Miklashevich (GK), 3 Anastasiya Linnik (C), 4 Anastasiya Shlapakova (15 Nastassia Shuppo, 46’), 6 Hanna Siniauskaya (23 Liya Tsikhamirava, 65’), 8 Zaryna Kapustsina, 9 Hanna Kaziupa, 10 Anastasiya Maher, 11 Yuliya Sliasarchyk, 14 Karyna Alkhovik (19 Anastasiya Kavaliova, 65’), 16 Melana Surautsava (18 Viktoryia Valiuk, 46’), 17 Aryna Sitnikava (21 Darya Harshkova, 46’)
Coach: Viachaslau Hryharau

Referee: Joanna Vassallo