29.03.2022OFFICIAL ‘A’ FRIENDLYNational Stadium, Ta’ Qali, MaltaMALTA…2KUWAIT…0(HT 2-0)1-0 Alex Satariano 29, 2-0 Teddy Teuma 33.Malta recorded a comfortable win over Kuwait this evening at Ta’ Qali, beating the team from the Middle East 2-0 with two first half scores by Alex Satariano and Teddy Teuma. The match closed down another international window, in which the Maltese recorded two valuable wins, the first one against Azerbaijan last Friday night.
There were three changes in the starting line-up for Malta in comparison with the Azerbaijan Friendly. Coach Devis Mangia opted to start with Adam Magri-Overend on the left wing instead of Ryan Camenzuli, Enrico Pepe in the heart of the defence in lieu of the retired of Andrei Agius, while on midfield, Dunstan Vella was preferred instead of Brandon Paiber. Kuwait goalkeeper Al Khaledi, who had a busy night, was called into action immediately on two minutes, blocking a Jurgen Degabriele effort. On 10 minutes, the guests nearly capitalised on a defensive error, with the fast Al Faneeni splitting the rear-guard apart with a fast run, passing to Al Dhefeery whose goal attempt sailed high. Degabriele went close again on 15 minutes after some good work by Joseph Mbong from the right. On 25 minutes, Ebrahim Marzouq went close to open the score for the guests but Bonello turned his 20-meters distance effort into a corner. Then Malta scored two goals within the space of four minutes. On 29 minutes, the hosts took the lead when Teddy Teuma’s free-kick ended up in the path of Alex Satariano, who beat Al Khaledi from close-range despite attempts from the Kuwait defence to clear the ball. Three minutes later, Malta doubled thanks to Teuma, who intercepted a pass in the Kuwait defence, passed to Satariano who returned the favour towards Teuma, who drilled home his first goal for Malta. Before the break, Malta could have easily added a few more as Teuma, Mbong and Degabriele had further goal attempts, but failed to find target or found Al Khaledi on their way. The guests made four changes before the start of the second half, including Bader Al Mutawa who is currently, with 192 caps the most capped active international male footballer in the world. The guests started strong, creating some danger in the Malta box as it took the hosts 15 minutes to find their composure back. Just after the hour, Teuma beat the offside trap but failed to beat Al Khaledi from close-range. On 71 minutes, substitute Luke Montebello, in his 20th cap, was close of opening his account for Malta after some good work by Mbong but the Birkirkara striker failed to find the net from an ideal position. With 15 minutes left on the clock, substitute Al Fadhel was close to pull one back for the Kuwaiti but his rising shot sailed inches wide. On 82 minutes, Teuma released substitute Camenzuli on the left but his shot hit the side-netting. Malta’s next matches are in June, when San Marino will be played twice, while Malta will also play a home match against Estonia in Group D2 of the UEFA Nations League. MaltaHenry Bonello, Jean Borg, Steve Borg (Zach Muscat 58), Enrico Pepe, Adam Magri-Overend, Joseph Mbong (Ryan Camenzuli 72), Matthew Guillaumier (Steve Pisani 72), Dunstan Vella, Teddy Teuma (Brandon Paiber 82), Jurgen Degabriele (Luke Montebello 58), Alex Satariano (Jake Grech 82)Coach: Devis Mangia KuwaitAhmad Al Khaledi (Hussain Kankone 68), Sami Al Sanea, Fahed Al Hajeri, Ahmad Al Dhefeery, Fawaz Al Otaibi (Talal Al Fadhel 46), Fahad Al Reshidi, Redha Abujabarah (Bader Al Mutawa 46), Mobarak Al Faneeni (Yousef Al Sulaiman 80), Ebrahim Marzouq, Fahed Al Ebrahim (Sultan Al Enezi 46), Khaled Al Fadlhi (Ali Issa 46).Coach: Vítězslav Lavička Referee: Tom Owen (Wales) Caution: Al Otaibi (K) Attendance: 1163