Georgia came back from a goal down to beat Malta in a match from Group F of the UEFA Under-21 Championship at the Ramaz Shengelia Stadium in Kutaisi on Tuesday.

Malta made a quickfire start to the match, putting the pressure on the Georgian backline, and in the second minute, Mattias Ellul received the ball on the edge of the penalty area, before hitting a beautiful driven strike to give Malta the lead.

However, Georgia equalised shortly after, with Luka Tsulukidze getting on the end of a free-kick, heading into the back of the net to make it 1-1.

James Sissons was called into action in the 15th minute, when Aleksandre Narimanidze hit a long-range shot that was saved by the Maltese goalkeeper. Just a few minutes later, Narimanidze tried his luck from range again, and while Sissons stopped the initial shot, Gabriel Sigua was on hand to connect with the rebound, putting Georgia in front.

Malta settled down after the Georgia second, and they slowed the pace down, but Georgia were looking to pin them back. With the Maltese defence dropping deeper, Narimanidze hit another powerful shot in the 42nd minute, and it sailed into the top corner, making it 3-1 to Georgia. The score remained that way going into the break.

Malta started the second half very well, and in the 56th minute, a fine cross from Ellul found Nicholas Agius, who did brilliantly to control the ball and lift it over Papuna Beruashvili, but the ball was acrobatically cleared from off the line by Narimanidze. From the resulting corner, Malta could have scored again, with the ball falling to Joshua Pitts, who hit a powerful strike, but it crashed against the bar, going agonisingly out.

Malta were looking strong in and out of possession, pressing Georgia well for large parts of the half.

However, the home side made it 4-1 in the 78th minute, when a free-kick led to Sigua getting on the end of the ball first, tucking into the net.

Malta looked to respond straight away, and after some neat build-up play down the left, Lucas Caruana found Brooklyn Borg on the edge of the penalty area, with the Maltese midfielder turning quickly, but his shot went over the bar.

Malta pushed until the very end in search of another goal, but they could not find the net again, and the match finished 4-1 to Georgia

Photo courtesy of Malta FA

GEORGIA Papuna Beruashvili, Aleksandre Amisulashvili, Aleksandre Narimanidze (68’ Akaki GIunashvili, Saba Kharebashvili, Luka Tsulukidze (59’ Nikoloz Chikovani), Iraklii Egoyan, Gabriel Sigua, Niko Tsetskhladze, Gurami Japaridze, Nikoloz Dadiani (89’ Tsotne Berelidze), Luka Parkadze (59’ Andria Bartishvili).

MALTA James Sissons, Kean Scicluna, Mattias Ellul, Nicholas Agius (78’ Shaisen Attard), Nathan Cross, Deacon Abela, Kaiden Fenech (86’ Jake Grech), Jake Micallef (78’ Lucas Caruana), Daniel Letherby (67’ Brooklyn Borg), Joshua Pitts, Kai Bartolo (67’ Sean Gatt).

Referee: Seth Galia GIB