Malta commenced their Group B2 European Qualifying campaign with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Türkiye on Tuesday afternoon. Malta had their opportunities, but the home side controlled large parts of the play throughout the game.
Malta got off to a rocky start, as the home side were looking increasingly dangerous from set-pieces. Türkiye opened the scoring in the seventh minute when a corner was swung into the penalty area, and Lexine Farrugia failed to clear the ball, with it going into her own net, opening the scoring.
Photo courtesy of Malta FA
Türkiye came close to doubling their advantage in the 17th minute, when a free-kick led to a scuffle in the penalty area, but the Maltese defence stood strong and they eventually cleared the ball away from danger.
Malta tried to settle down after the early opener, but the home side eventually got their second of the match when their front line robbed the ball from the Maltese defence, with Ebru Topçu hitting a powerful strike from distance, beating Giulia D’Antuono.
The home side continued to put pressure on the Maltese backline in the first half, but Manuela Tesse’s side stood firm.
n the second half, Malta looked to make a quick start, and in the 50th minute, some neat link up play in and around the Turkish penalty area led to Maria Farrugia being faced with Selda Akgöz, but the Turkish captain saved, and then the flag was raised for offside.
Malta continued to look strong after the break, and in the 67th minute, they came very close to getting a goal back, when Haley Bugeja found Maria Farrugia, who hit a left-footed strike from the edge of the penalty area, but her attempt went narrowly over the bar.
Moments later, Türkiye came close to adding to their scoring, when a nicely crafted move led to a ball being squared from the right into the penalty area, yet the shot was blocked by Maya Lucia. A few minutes later, Selen Altunkulak hit a powerful volley, yet D’Antuono stood tall and saved well.
Tesse’s side were defending well for the remaining minutes of the second half, until the 88th minute, when Arzu Karabulut found space in the penalty area to tuck the ball into the net from a cross, making the final score 3-0 to the home side.
The Malta Women’s National Team will be back in action on home soil on Saturday night when they face Switzerland at the Centenary Stadium, with kick-off at 19:00hrs.
Türkiye 1 Selda Akgöz (GK) (C), 2 Meryem Küçükbirinci, 3 Fatma Şakar (17 İlayda Civelek, 72’), 4 Eda Karataş, 6 Selen Altunkulak (7 Arzu Karabulut, 84’), 9 Kader Hançar (22 Melike Öztürk, 84’), 10 Ebru Topçu, 14 Halle Houssein (18 Başak İçinözbebek, 78’), 16 Ece Türkoğlu (11 Miray Cin, 72’), 19 Busem Şeker, 20 Elif Keskin
Coach: Necla Gungor Kiragasi
Malta 1 Giulia D’Antuono (GK), 4 Emma Lipman (C), 5 Stephania Farrugia, 7 Lexine Farrugia (15 Sara Saliba, 78’), 8 Yulya Carella (22 Leah Ayres, 62’), 10 Maria Farrugia, 11 Jade Flask, 17 Brenda Borg (3 Emma Sophia Flannery, 89’), 18 Emma Xuereb (13 Maya Lucia, 46’), 20 Nicole Sciberras (14 Shona Zammit, 62’), 21 Haley Bugeja
Coach: Manuela Tesse
Referee: Eugenia Gil Soriano (ESP)