UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Malta 0-5 Scotland
Tuesday, 10 September 2024
Ta'qali Stadium, Malta

Scorers

Malta 0 

Scotland 5: Ellul 5' (own goal), Murray 9, Mulligan 17', Miller 56', Neilson 82'

Team News

Scotland made four changes to the side who lost narrowly to Spain at Tynecastle on Friday night.

Max Johnston provided a boost by joining up straight from Lisbon, where he was an unused substitute for the 'A' squad on Sunday evening. 

He came in for Calvin Ramsay, while Ewan Wilson, Dire Mebude and Lennon Miller all came in from the start as well. 

Matthew Anderson and Daniel Kelly dropped to the bench, with Leon King not travelling to Malta after suffering an injury on Friday evening.

As it Happened

Ewan Wilson was making his first start and he was hugely involved when Scotland got off to a dream start when they took the lead in just the second minute of the match.

Wilson darted down the left flank and curled in an inviting cross which home defender Matthew Ellul made a complete mess of an attempted clearance and the ball squirmed over the line.



But Scotland were given a real fright almost right away after the goal when Scotland keeper and captain Cieren Slicker raced from his goal and wiped out Mattia Veselji outside his box on the wing after a Maltese breakaway.

The Scotland number one was relieved the referee only showed him a yellow card much to the fury of the home players.

And it got even better for the Scots after they doubled their lead in the ninth minute. A Miller free-kick was glanced in by Dane Murray who claimed his first goal for the Under 21s on his second appearance.

Scotland made it three in the 17th minute when Kieron Bowie was too sharp for the Malta defenders trying to play out from the back.



The striker played in Lyall Cameron and when his effort was smothered by the keeper, Bowie was then able to prod the ball across to Josh Mulligan who stroked the ball into an empty net.

But Scotland suffered a blow when Bowie limped off in the first half with what looked like a hamstring injury. Daniel Kelly replaced him.

Slicker then made a brilliant save from point blank range just before the interval from  striker Basil Tuma to prevent the hosts from grabbing a consolation.

Jeremiah Mullen, Mulligan and Johnston all went close to getting another goal for Scotland in a late attacking burst in the first half. 

Scotland introduced Kilmarnock's David Watson for Murray at the break and Mebude went close soon after the restart.

And it was four for Scotland in the 55th minute when Miller headed in a cross from Kelly for his first goal for the Under 21s.

An excellent run from Mulligan saw him twist in towards goal and his effort from an acute angle was touched wide by home keeper Matthias Debono.



Malta's Jake Micallef cracked a shot against the bar as the home side tried in vain to get a goal back.

Bobby Wales came on for his debut and fellow sub Ramsay nearly made it five with some nice footwork inside the box before his effort was saved.

That fifth goal was only delayed to the 82nd minute when Neilson prodded home after another assist from Miller with a cross.

Miller Thomson also came on for his debut as Scotland saw the game out comfortably to set up a crunch home tie against Belgium at Tynecastle next month. 

Teams

Scotland: Slicker, Johnston, Mullen, Murray (Watson 45), Neilson, Wilson, Cameron (Thomson 85), Miller, Mulligan (Ramsay 75), Bowie (Kelly 36), Mebude (Wales 75)

Subs: Budinauckas, Milne, Apter, Ramsay, Wales, Anderson, Watson, Thomson

Next Up

The Young Scots now face Belgium and Kazakhstan in a crucial double header in October. Scotland sit second in Group B and need to remain ahead of Belgium if they are to have a chance of qualifying for next summer's European Championship finals in Slovakia.