SINGAPORE: Needing to avoid defeat to progress to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Mitsubishi Electric Cup semi-finals, Singapore sunk to a 4-1 loss at the hands of Causeway rivals Malaysia on Tuesday (Jan 3).
At the Bukit Jalil stadium in Kuala Lumpur, a first-half header from Darren Lok and a second-half Stuart Wilkin double put the Tigers comfortably ahead, before a late goal from substitute Faris Ramli reduced arrears.
But an 88th-minute Sergio Aguero strike would seal the win and Malaysia’s qualification at the expense of Singapore.
Takayuki Nishigaya’s men went into the game knowing that a draw or a win would see them enter the semi-finals of the tournament.
The Lions began their campaign with a closely contested 3-2 victory over Myanmar and followed that up with a 2-0 victory away to Laos. A 0-0 stalemate against Vietnam at the Jalan Besar stadium on Friday then kept them in good stead to make the semis for the second consecutive tournament.
Singapore were one point ahead of Malaysia, who edged Myanmar 1-0 in their opening game, before thrashing Laos 5-0. However, a 3-0 loss to Vietnam left Malaysia with all to do against Singapore.
And the Tigers took the game to their opponents from the opening whistle on Tuesday.
Buoyed by their characteristically raucous home crowd, Malaysia were quick off the blocks early, with the tricky Lok threatening to get in behind the Singapore rearguard.
Singapore custodian Hassan Sunny was called into action early on as he thwarted a darting run from Faisal Halim, before smothering a shot from Malaysian fullback Ruventhiran Vengadesan.
The Lions’ first chance fell the way of Irfan Fandi, with the defender on the end of a Christopher Van Huizen cross in the 11th minute. But the 25-year-old could only direct his header wide.
Faizal continued to be a thorn in the side of the Singapore defence and would hammer a shot at Hassan minutes later after Song Ui-young had lost posession. But the experienced Singapore stopper proved up to the task.
Singapore would find gaps in Malaysia’s backline on several occasions, with the most notable chance coming the way of Song. But the hardworking midfielder could only snatch at the chance when he could have taken an extra touch.
Then came the crucial goal for the Tigers in the 35th minute as Safawi Rasid seized possession on the right and his cross was headed home by Lok.
The last time both sides met was in March last year when Singapore beat Malaysia 2-1 in an international friendly courtesy of an Ikhsan Fandi double. Ikhsan, however, was ruled out of this tournament before a ball was kicked, having sustained an injury during an international friendly against Maldives in December.
Singapore were also without Ikhsan’s younger brother Ilhan, who was replaced at half-time against Vietnam after landing awkwardly on the turf.
But the Lions were not alone in missing key men. Malaysia, too, were missing a host of players from league champions Johor Darul Ta’zim.
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