Ryan Camenzuli goal gives Malta deserved victory in Andorra
Malta’ Nations League hopes re‐ ceived a boost yesterday in An‐ dorra when Marcolini’s side defeated Andorra with a Ryan Camenzuli goal just before half time.
It was a hard earned win for the Maltese who now join Moldovo on the three‐point mark in Group D2. Following Saturday’s disap‐ pointing performance, the Mal‐ tese gave a spirited display yesterday as promised by coach Marcolini.
Teddy Teuma proved to be fun‐ damental for Malta as the mid‐ field was in better control compared to the Chisinau per‐ formance. Henry Bonello was not under pressure but made two stunning saves that preserved Malta’s lead.
It was an all round good per‐ formance by the boys in red , but a span above the rest were Jean Borg and Joseph Mbong apart from the already mentioned Teuma and Bonello.
Marcolini made four changes from the side that lost against Moldova on Saturday. Andorra did the early running, taking the initiative as the Maltese took some time to settle down.
However Malta gradually took control of the game and on 18 minutes had their first attempt at goal with Joseph Mbong testing the Andorra custodian.
From the resultant corner Al‐ varez made a stunning save off a
Zammit Lonardelli point blank header.
Malta continued to have the edge over their opponents and just before the break Malta took the lead when Ryan Camenzuli fired low into the net from an acute angle.
On the resumption Andorra had a good reaction in search of the equaliser and the Maltese tried to control the game and try‐ ing to find spaces for their counter break.
However Bonello made a cou‐ ple of good saves to protect our slender lead and on 65 minutes substitute Alaez had a shot just missing the base of the upright with Bonello beaten.
On 70 minutes Nwoko had a glorious opportunity heading just wide from four meters from a Kemar Reid cross.
Sixty seconds later a Maltese defensive blunder but Bonello again came to the rescue block‐ ing Fernandez’s shot.
On 76 minutes Joseph Mbong won a precious ball but failed to score with his shot going inches wide.
In the final minutes Andorra pushed everything forward but the Maltese defended well, also having some good breaks to ob‐ tain a deserved and precious