Malta will be playing once again in League D of the UEFA Nations League after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Luxembourg in the second leg of the League C/D Play-Off at the Stade de Luxembourg on Tuesday.

Luxembourg, therefore, retain their League C status with a 5-0 aggregate score while Malta will be facing Andorra and Gibraltar in League D.

Emilio De Leo’s side went out in search of an early goal and goalkeeper Anthony Moris performed a brilliant save on Ilyas Chouaref early in the game. Luxembourg, however, managed to take the lead. They had a penalty which was parried by Bonello just before the end of the second half but early in the second half, just after Malta went close to equalising, the hosts doubled the score. Joseph Mbong was sent off for Malta and Luxembourg  sealed the issue with a third goal.

Photos courtesy of Malta FA

Malta had two changes from Thursday as Gabriel Mentz was preferred to Kurt Shaw while the returning Joseph Mbong replaced the injured Teddy Teuma. De Leo opted once again for a 4-2-3-1 formation with Muscat, Mentz, Pepe and Camenzuli at the back, Guillaumier and Satariano as defensive midfielder with Joseph Mbong, Paul Mbong and Chouaref behind Cardona.

The Maltese showed great determination in the opening minutes and on 8 minutes, Joseph Mbong delivered a cross from the right and Ilyas Chouaref brought the best out of goalkeeper Anthony Moris who turned his scissors-kick into a corner. From the resulting corner by Joseph Mbong, Chouaref had a fine curling shot from the left ending just over the bar. Luxembourg replied with a long-distance effort by Seid Korac ending high on 13 minutes but five minutes later, off a cross by Ryan Camenzuli from the left, Joseph Mbong had a shot from outside the area ending high.

However on 20 minutes, Luxembourg managed to take the lead when off a cross from the left by Danel Sinani, Vincent Thill managed to avoid Ryan Camenzuli’s marking before slotting the ball past Bonello. 

Malta replied with an Irvin Cardona header ending high off a cross by Camenzuli on 25 minutes and seven minutes later, Zach Muscat had a shot from outside the area ending over the bar. A shot from outside the area by Chouaref, slightly deflected by Cardona, was parried by Moris on 34 minutes. One minute from the end of the first half, a powerful drive by Danel Sinani was blocked by Satariano. 

In added time before the end of the first half, Joseph Mbong floored Leandro Barreiro inside the area. Referee Daniel Siebert ordered a penalty but Danel Sinani’s effort from the penalty spot was parried by Henry Bonello.

Two minutes in the second half, Bohnert floored Cardona just outside the area and Satariano’s free kick was tipped into a corner by Moris.  Mbong’s corner from the left was then parried by the Luxembourg goalkeeper. 

However Luxembourg doubled the score on 50 minutes. A short clearance was intercepted by Martins and following a good move with Mathiesen and Barreiro, the Benfica midfielder provided Danel Sinani with a back heel pass and Sinani pulled to the right before beating Bonello with a diagonal shot.

To make matters worse for Malta, Joseph Mbong received a second yellow card on 64 minutes and was therefore sent off by the referee.

In a swift counter break for Malta, Irvin Cardona concluded a good run on the right before serving substitute Keyon Ewurum whose conclusion was turned into a corner by Anthony Moris on 66 minutes. Substitute Yvando Borges Sanches concluded a good move with a shot from outside the area which was parried by Bonello three minutes later. 

However, another substiute, Tomas Moreira made it 3-0 on 70 minutes, beating Bonello with a diagonal shot from the right when served by Korac.

Danel Sinani could have added another three minutes from time but Bonello blocked his close-range effort. On the other hand, on 90 minutes, off a pass by Keyon Ewurum from the left, Irvin Cardona had a close range effort blocked by Moris with Cardona taking the rebound with the Luxembourg goalkeeper turning his second attempt into a corner.

LUXEMBOURG Anthony Moris, Seid Korac, Florian Bohnert (57 Enes Mahmutovic), Christopher Martins, Aiman Dardari (78’ Jayson VIdeira), Danel SInani, Dirk Carlson, Vincent Thill (67’ Tomas Moreira), Leandro Barreiro (57’ Sebastien Thill), Laurent Jans, Mathias Olesen (67’ Yvandro Borges Santos).

MALTA Henry Bonello, Ryan Camenzuli (46’ Juan Corbalan), Gabriel Mentz, Matthew Guillaumier, Joseph Mbong, Paul Mbong (61’ Keyon Ewurum), Irvin Cardona, Enrico Pepe (61’ Jean Borg), Ilyas Chouaref (82’ Adam Magri Overend), Zach Muscat (74’ Myles Beerman), Alex Satariano.

Referee: Daniel Siebert GER

Assistant Referees: Jan Seidel, Rafael Foltyn GER 

Fourth Official: Daniel Schlager GER

VAR Soren Storks GER

Assistant VAR: Johann Pfeifer GER

Yellow Cards: Sinani, J. Mbong, Bohnert, Olesen

Red Cards: 64’ Joseph Mbong

Attendance: 9,113