Second string of Dragons defeats Malta, diminishes bitter taste after draw in Cyprus

(Patria) - The Bosnia and Herzegovina selection easily dealt with weak Malta tonight in a friendly match played at the National Stadium in Ta' Qali. The scoreboard at the end read 1:4.

Sergej Barbarez made as many as eight changes to the starting lineup compared to the match against Cyprus, which ended 2:2.

The starting lineup was as follows: Zlomislić, Hadžikadunić, Burnić, Barišić, Dedić, Bešić, Šunjić, Baždar, Memić, Tabaković, Bajraktarević.

The first serious chance of the match also brought the Dragons the lead. It was the 15th minute when Memić ran nicely, shot from the edge of the penalty area, and scored his first goal, writes Faktor.

New excitement occurred 13 minutes later when Memić's goal was rightly disallowed due to Tabaković's earlier handball.

The second half also started excellently for BiH. Memić was involved in the action again, and this time the ball bounced to Tabaković, who found the net with a precise shot. This happened in the 53rd minute.

After that, Malta took the initiative and returned to the game very quickly when Zlomislić conceded a penalty in the 59th minute, and Mbong was a sure scorer.

Then everything seemed to go Malta's way. They could have equalized in the 65th minute, but Cordona was inaccurate from a promising position.

The winner was decided in the 84th minute when Menalo broke through on the right side and crossed to the far post where the unmarked Tahirović put the ball into the net for 1:3.

Two minutes later, Omerović also got on the scoresheet after Malta's goalkeeper Bonelo made a series of very good saves in the same attack. The match ended 1:4.

The Dragons continue their World Cup qualifiers in November with matches against Romania and Austria.