TA’QALI. Croatia conquers Malta 7-1 after playing a incredible match. Croatia was truly better in terms of ball possession (67%) was among the factors of its victory.
The match was played at the Ta’Qali National Stadium stadium in Ta’Qali on Thursday and it started at 7:45 pm local time. The referee was Deniz Aytekin who was helped by Christian Dietz and Dominik Schaal. The 4th official was Florian Badstübner.
Match Statistics
Ball possession
Croatia had a strong ball possession 67% while Malta was struggling with a 33% ball possession.
Attitude and shots
Croatia was putting more pressure with 62 dangerous attacks and 20 shots of which 12 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Croatia won the match.
Malta shot 2 times, 0 on target, 2 off target. On the opposite side, Croatia shot 20 times, 12 on target, 5 off target.
Cards
Malta received 1 yellow card (E. Pepe). Talking about the opposition, Croatia didn’t receive any yellow card.
Match Timeline
Standings
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Group J
After this encounter, Malta will stay with 5 points like Cyprus to sit in the 5th place. On the other side, Croatia will have 20 points to sit in the 2nd place.
Next matches
In the next match in the WC Qualification Europe, Malta will host Slovakia on the 14th of November with a 3-0 head to head statistic in favor of Slovakia (1 draw).
Croatia will host Russia on the 14th of November with a 1-0 head to head record in favor of Croatia (3 draws).
Malta – Formation
Malta
79'
83'
Malta started with an extremely aggressive line-up (3-4-3).
The manager Devis Mangia decided to play with the following team: Henry Bonello , Kurt Shaw , Andrei Agius , Enrico Pepe , Cain Attard , Bjorn Kristensen , Teddy Teuma , Ryan Camenzuli , Joseph Mbong , Luke Montebello and Jurgen Degabriele .
The home team had on the bench: Paul Mbong, Karl Micallef , Alexander Satariano , Jake Galea, Matthew Guillaumier , Matthew Grech, Dunstan Vella, Tristan Caruana, Stephen Pisani , Shaun Dimech , Portelli Nevin and Jake Grech.
Substitutions
Malta made 5 changes: B. Kristensen for S. Pisani (46′), L. Montebello for A. Satariano (62′), T. Teuma for M. Guillaumier (62′), J. Mbong for S. Dimech (68′) and K. Shaw for K. Micallef (83′).
Best player: Jurgen Degabriele
The most impressive player for Malta was Jurgen Degabriele.
His rating is with 19 passes (47% accurate) and 1 key pass. He was won 1 duel out of 3. He performed 1 cross.
Croatia – Formation
Croatia
22'
Croatia started with a aggressive line-up (4-3-3).
Zlatko Dalić played with: Ivo Grbić , Josip Juranović , Duje Ćaleta-Car , Joško Gvardiol , Borna Sosa , Luka Modrić , Marcelo Brozović , Mario Pašalić , Lovro Majer , Andrej Kramarić and Ivan Perišić .
The following players were sitting on the bench: Kristijan Jakić , Simon Sluga, Nikola Vlašić , Marko Livaja , Luka Ivanušec, Mislav Oršić , Dominik Livaković, Domagoj Vida, Dejan Lovren, Josip Stanišić, Bruno Petković and Luka Sučić.
Substitutions
Croatia made 5 changes: M. Brozovic for K. Jakic (46′), I. Perisic for M. Orsic (54′), A. Kramaric for B. Petkovic (54′), L. Modric for N. Vlasic (54′) and M. Pasalic for M. Livaja (62′).
Best player: Lovro Majer
The player that probably impressed the most for Croatia was Lovro Majer.
His rating is with 2 goals, 56 passes (91% accurate) and 1 key pass. He performed 2 crosses.
Results of the day
These are the results of the day in the WC Qualification Europe.
- Azerbaijan – Luxembourg – 1-3
- Russia – Cyprus – 6-0
- Armenia – North Macedonia – 0-5
- Georgia – Sweden – 2-0
- Republic of Ireland – Portugal – 0-0
- Malta – Croatia – 1-7
- Slovakia – Slovenia – 2-2
- Germany – Liechtenstein – 9-0
- Romania – Iceland – 0-0
- Greece – Spain – 0-1
