KUALA LUMPUR: Two first-half goals were enough for China to sink 10-man Malaysia 2-0 in their Tier 1 international soccer friendly at the Zhaoqing New District Sports Centre Stadium in Guangdong last night (Nov. 14)
Harimau Malaya, under interim head coach Tan Cheng Hoe, went into the game with a severe handicap, with players from Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) not listed and six Selangor FC players pulling out at the last minute due to injuries.
To compound their misery, Malaysia’s Fergus Tierney was sent off in the dying minutes for a second yellow card.
World No. 96 China began aggressively against world No. 133 Malaysia, and it took the hosts just 10 minutes to break the deadlock when Wang Yudong nodded home a cross from the right by Lin Liangming.
Malaysia had a gilt-edged chance to equalise a minute later, but Romel Morales blazed his close-range attempt over the bar.
China skipper Zhang Yuning doubled their lead in the 19th minute when he beat Malaysia’s offside trap and evaded defender Rodney Celvin’s marking before beating goalkeeper Muhammad Haziq Nadzli.
The match then turned ugly in the 44th minute when Malaysian defender Dominic Tan kicked the ball into Alex Yang, who had fallen after colliding with Daniel Ting.
The incident sparked a commotion when several players and officials from China’s bench rushed onto the pitch before match officials brought things under control.
China, led by coach Shao Jiayi, nearly scored a third in the 60th minute when Zhang latched onto a miskick by Dominic and let fly a screamer from outside the box.
Fortunately, goalkeeper Muhammad Haziq was equal to the task.
Malaysia had a good chance to narrow the deficit when Tierney capitalised on China’s defensive mix-up to score in the 77th minute, but it was disallowed after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check detected a foul in the lead-up to the goal.
China goalkeeper Li Hao then produced two consecutive stunning saves from Richard Chin and Paulo Josue in the 86th minute to ensure a clean sheet.
Malaysia will play a second Tier 1 international friendly at the same venue when they face Yemen on Tuesday (Nov. 17). – BERNAMA
