National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Jake Spiteri started the match with the kick off. Maksim Lobanovskiy blasted a shot towards the goal in the 8th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Mike Cassar Torreggiani having to make a save. Mike Cassar Torreggiani showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Maksim Lobanovskiy in the 8th minute of the match. Mike Cassar Torreggiani made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Maksim Lobanovskiy in the 10th minute of play. Artur Romanov showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Alessio Laudi, who was totally free with the ball in the 12th minute. After 14 minutes, Timofey Lapitskiy mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the U21 Russia and the U21 Malta players grew even worse after the yellow card. Artur Romanov took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Noel Buhagiar, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. U21 Malta's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Reuben Cefai in the 18th minute. After 19 minutes, Reuben Cefai made it 0-1 with a short kick to the right side. U21 Russia's Artur Romanov tried to save the shot but he was too slow in reacting to the shot. In the 23rd minute, Denis Dolbonosov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. When U21 Malta's Jake Spiteri in the 27th minute got a chance for a shot 27th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye U21 Russia's goalie prevented a goal. When Noel Buhagiar came up free with the goalie in the 34th minute, the U21 Malta fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Noel Buhagiar couldn't finish the play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Samuel Griffin in the 38th minute of play forced U21 Russia's goalkeeper Artur Romanov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Maksim Lobanovskiy might have been able to make a better finish in the 40th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Mike Cassar Torreggiani. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Maksim Lobanovskiy ran back to his position shaking his head. After having played for 42 minutes, Jean Carl Cassar Torreggiani managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. U21 Malta's supporters crossed their fingers, but Jean Carl Cassar Torreggiani was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. A collision led to U21 Malta getting a freekick after 47 minutes play. Nikolai Incorvaia hit a great ball. After the first half U21 Malta were leading 0-1. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Timofey Lapitskiy to strike the kick off in the second half. U21 Malta's Mike Cassar Torreggiani played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Maksim Lobanovskiy in the 52nd minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Maksim Lobanovskiy in the 58th minute of play forced U21 Malta's goalkeeper Mike Cassar Torreggiani to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 59th minute, Vladislav Febov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Nikolai Incorvaia kicked well hit freekick during the 67th minute of the match. U21 Malta's Gabriel Vella was substituted for Alessio Laudi. U21 Malta made a substitution. Patrick Zammit replaced Jake Spiteri. After 68 played minutes U21 Malta got a freekick which was hit by Nikolai Incorvaia. The supporters of U21 Malta booed when U21 Russia was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 74 match minutes in a wonderful position. Denis Dolbonosov didn't get a good kick on the ball. U21 Russia made a substitution. Ilya Duryagin replaced Timofey Lapitskiy. The supporters of U21 Malta booed when U21 Russia was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 74 match minutes in a wonderful position. Denis Dolbonosov didn't get a good kick on the ball. Patrick Zammit recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 79th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. U21 Malta made a substitution. Pepe Ferreira replaced Noel Xerri. Jean Carl Cassar Torreggiani hit a great freekick 81 minutes into the match. The audience was convinced that Patrick Zammit's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Artur Romanov was relentless in the 83rd minute of the game. After a rather tough play, U21 Russia's Ilya Duryagin got a free kick in the 89th minute. 90 minutes into the game, Jean Carl Cassar Torreggiani lined in a short shot 0-2 behind a frustrated Artur Romanov. Nikolai Incorvaia hit a great freekick 93 minutes into the match. U21 Russia's Artur Romanov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Patrick Zammit in the 95th minute of play. When the final whistle sounded U21 Malta left the ground with the victory after a much better performance than U21 Russia.