Malta hold Armenia in Ray Farrugia’s debut as national coach

Ray Żażu Farrugia's debut at the helm of the Malta national football team could not have been better after the team registered a 1-1 draw against Aremnia in a friendly encounter in Austria.

Armenia had the upper hand when it came to possession; however, they failed to create much with the majority of play taking place inside the middle of the pitch.

The first half lacked chances on goal with neither team producing much.

Armenia created the first chance of the match after five minutes. Following a mistake by Steve Borg, Ivan Yagan went through on the left side and hit a shot that forced a good save from Andrew Hogg.

Yagan succeeded in sending Armenia ahead on the 13th minute. The Armenian striker received a through ball and placed the ball inside the bottom corner.

Malta replied on the 28th minute. Following a corner, the ball went into the path of Paul Fenech whose shot was deflected for a corner.

The Maltese side equalised on the brink of half-time. An Armenian defender handled the ball inside the penalty area and the referee pointed towards the spot. From the eleven metres mark, Andrei Agius made no mistake.

Malta saw more of the ball during the second half. However, they couldn’t find a way past Armenia’s defence. On the other hand, Armenia reduced their tempo and had to do more defending.

In fact, the only chance of the second half was a long range shot from Alfred Effiong that failed to hit the target.

Malta’s pressure forced Armenia to commit a number of fouls and they ended up in ten men on the 76th minute. Varazdat Haroyan was sent off after being shown his second yellow card of the match.

However, Malta failed to take advantage of their extra man as the match ended up in a 1-1 draw.

Malta starting line-up: Andrew Hogg, Joseph Zerafa, Steve Borg, Andrei Agius, Stephen Pisani, Paul Fenech, Michael Mifsud, Roderick Briffa, Ferdinando Apap, Alfred Effiong, Kyrian Nwoko

Armenia starting line-up: Aram Ayrapetyan, Jordy Ararat, Vardazdat Haroyan, Gael Andondan, Karlen Mkrtchyan, Gor Malakyan, Gevorg Ghazarayn, Tigran Barseghyan, Ivan Yagan, Hrayr Mkoyan, Henrikh Mkhitarayan