Czech Republic 0 - Italy 0; Malta 1 - Armenia 0

Yerevan and its faithful were hopeful that Armenia would be able to right their campaign against visiting Malta, who had yet to record a single point.  Malta scored early on through a lightning counterattack as Andre Schembri linked up with Gareth Sciberras, who then powered a through ball in to Michael Mifsud, captain and all-time leading goalscorer.  Mifsud carried the ball sixteen yards before having his initial shot blocked by the goalkeeper.  However, the rebound was kind and Mifsud chipped into the vacated net for a 1-0 lead.  The rest of the match fell upon the shoulders of Malta goalkeeper Justin Haber.  With twenty minutes to go in the half, Haber made a diving save to punch away a shot by Marcos Pinheiro.  With a couple minutes left to play, Karlen Mkrtchyan lofted a point-blank header over the crossbar.  Malta took their shock 1-0 lead into halftime.

More Haber heroics were needed to parry away a shot from Aras Ozbiliz with twenty minutes left in the second period, but the low dive was enough to protect the lead.  Malta were able to see the game out and record their first competitive road victory since 1993 by a 1-0 scoreline.

Prague Italy's backline looked quite disorganized early on in the match, leaving goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to come up with a timely save as he rushed out to deny Petr Jiracek.  Italy created nothing in response, but the Czechs were not able to muster a better opportunity than Jiracek's effort in the first half, which ended having seen no goals.

Libor Kozak nearly opened the scoring midway through the second half, but again Buffon was able to fly just high enough to punch the shot to safety.  Mario Balotelli (pictured, blue) received his second yellow in five minutes in minute 72, leaving a lackluster Italy to cope with ten men for the remainder of the proceedings.  With less than ten minutes to go, the Czechs yet again drew up a winning set piece only to see the finish not executed.  Jiracek was wide open at the back post, but his sliding effort hit the post, injuring himself during his exertion.  Italy, in spite of doing absolutely nothing positive in the match, escape with a 0-0 draw.

Italy 14 pts +8
Bulgaria 10 pts +7
Czech Rep. 9 pts +2
Denmark 6 pts +1
Armenia 3 pts -6
Malta 3 pts -12

Goals
Malta
Michael Mifsud 8

Match Reports:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130607/football/malta-armenia.472938
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2013/6/7/4407458/czech-republic-vs-italy-world-cup-2014-qualifying
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/worldcup/story/czech-republic-0-0-italy-uefa-world-cup-qualifying-match-report-mario-balotelli-red-card-060713

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ-6Vmtt5w8 (Malta v. Armenia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8y6906alyA (Czech Republic v. Italy)

Full Match Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCAplljHGKk (Malta v. Armenia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzuLxe7-wfE (Czech Republic v. Italy)