Baldvinsson punishes sterile Malta

FAROE ISLANDS    1 Baldvinsson 71 MALTA                   0 A second-half goal by Rogvi Baldvinsson dented Malta’s realistic aspirations of at least avoiding bottom spot in Group F as the Maltese team left the Torsvollur Stadium empty-handed, last night. Heading into this game, the Maltese were looking to go all out for a win and the early stages of the game had indicated exactly that. However, Malta’s possession was not productive enough to test the Faroe Islands defence. On the other hand, the hosts were more pragmatic in their style and were rewarded with a win that sees them leapfrog Malta at second bottom in Group F. It was a disappointing performance that led to a narrow defeat as now Malta have lost eight successive qualifiers, failing to score in each of them, since beating the same Faroes last March. As expected, Malta coach Ray Farrugia made several changes from the starting line-up that faced Sweden, last Saturday. Michael Mifsud was handed the captain’s armband on his return to starting formation, playing behind target man Kyrian Nwoko with Alfred Effiong dropped to the bench. Meanwhile, Paul Fenech partnered Dunstan Vella and Rowen Muscat in the midfield replacing...