KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 –The national Under-22 (U-22) squad had to work hard before recording a 1-0 victory over hosts Mongolia in their second match in Group J of the 2022 Under-23 (U-23) AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in Ulaanbaatar today.
Terengganu FC II striker Muhammad Nur Azfar Fikri Azhar once again emerged the hero, scoring a late goal in the first half to help Malaysia collect three valuable points in the tense match at the Mongolian Football Federation (MFF) Stadium.
The solitary goal saw Muhammad Nur Azfar emerge as the top scorer for the national squad at the moment by collecting two goals after also scoring Malaysia’s winning goal when they beat Laos 1-0 in the opening match on Monday.
In today’s action, three changes were made by Head Coach Brad Maloney in the starting line -up when he fielded Quentin Cheng and Muhammad Hairiey Hakim Mamat in the wings and risked Mohamad Hakimi Abdullah in attack.
The country’s young squad started the match rather slowly apart from being surprised with a yellow card as early as the third minute to striker Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, but Malaysia managed to control things despite facing aggressive and fast play from the opponents.
Maloney’s decision to use Quentin’s services was worthwhile as the Penang FC defender managed to make two important interceptions to break Mongolia’s dangerous attacks that started to gain momentum after the 15th minute of the game.
The match became more tense entering the 30th minute when the Mongolian players started playing ‘hard’ in addition to launching provocations on the national players, but the psychological attacks were ignored by Maloney’s boys who focused on breaking the deadlock.
Attack after attack that were neutralised forced the national players to shift their focus to set pieces and it proved worthwhile when Muhammad Nur Azfar headed into the net in the 40th minute after receiving a pass from a teammate from a corner kick.
Muhammad Nur Azfar almost doubled the lead for Malaysia in the 52nd minute through a back header, but his attempt slightly overshot the crossbar before he was substituted with Muhammad Syafik Ismail in the 60th minute.
Malaysia’s chase for a second goal did not materialise but came close when a solo run by team captain Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi which ended with a right foot shot from outside the penalty box only shook the crossbar in the 75th minute.
Although Mongolia maintained their aggressive play, the rest of the second half continued to belong to Malaysia who managed to maintain good defensive discipline as well as calmly playing short passes until the final whistle.
After two wins, Malaysia remained at the top of Group J with six points while Thailand and Mongolia who have each collected one point are in second and third place. Laos are languishing at the bottom.
Thailand face Laos in the second match this afternoon.
Malaysia will close the group stage against Thailand at the same venue this Sunday.
The champions of each group and the four teams in the second best position in the qualifying campaign qualify for the finals of the U-23 Asian Cup 2022 in Uzbekistan.
Sources: BERNAMA