Sweden were in a class of their own against Malta. Photo: Stephen Gatt
Malta 0
Sweden 4
Andersson 3; Strandberg 33, 60, Rakip 80 pen.
Malta’s woes in the 2019 UEFA U-21 Championship qualifying trek show no signs of abating as Silvio Vella’s team succumbed to a 4-0 defeat to Sweden, on Thursday.
If the Swedes were looking for an early boost, they got what they wanted by taking the lead inside the opening three minutes.
A fluid move saw the Udinese midfielder Svante Ingelsson supplying an intelligent pass to Joel Andersson who got behind the Malta defence on the left and swept the ball past goalkeeper Jake Galea.
Sweden increased their advantage past the half hour mark.
Substitute Daleho Irandust’s incursion down the left went unchecked by the home defence and his cross towards the far post was flicked in by Carlos Strandberg who was completely unmarked.
On the hour mark, Sweden struck again as Jonathan Levi floated a cross from right that opened up the Maltese defence and Strandberg drove past Galea.
Malta’s woes increased on 80 minutes when Sweden were given a penalty after Jean Borg brought down Jonathan Levi inside the box and Erdal Rakip made no mistake from the spot kick.