Robinson on target as Ireland scrape past Malta

Ireland ended the year with a fortuitous victory in Ta'Qali, as Stephen Kenny’s side edged past Malta 1-0 at the National Stadium.

Scoreless at the break, Ireland eventually took the lead thanks to a stroke of real luck as Callum Robinson raced onto a very poor backpass to break the deadlock.

Another underwhelming performance from the national side following Thursday’s defeat to Norway in Dublin, with the result the only real positive for the team to take into the start of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign that begins in March.

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It was a good start from the home side, working the ball down the right channel after three minutes, before Jodi Jones turned Nathan Collins very easily in the box. However, his clipped ball across the face of goal was cleared.

A similar chance for Ireland a minute later as Chiedozie Ogbene raced up the right flank before cutting inside and into the box. A moment of indecision showed his intentions as he looked for Robinson inside, and Malta dealt with the situation.

Ireland enjoyed a spell of pressure with Robinson and James McClean maintaining the momentum, however, a corner was all that could be conjured with nothing resulting from the set-piece.

Then in the 12th minute, Malta raced up the pitch and suddenly found themselves in a three-on-two situation, as Ireland were exposed at the back when Coleman misjudged the flight of the long ball out of defence.

Jones, arriving from the right, was eventually played in on goal and while he had options back