It was another night to forget for the Young Lions — they sunk 2-1 to hosts Malaysia in the Southeast Asia Games Group A fixture at the Shah Alam Stadium in front of 32,431 supporters, losing their second match in a row.
Disappointment and dejection as #TeamSG🇸🇬 rue mistakes which led to their 2-1 loss at #SEAGames2017 ⚽ https://t.co/268jaHX3Bw pic.twitter.com/oSnXPAojRS
— Noor Farhan (@NoorFarhanCNA) August 16, 2017
Singapore had earlier lost 2-0 to Myanmar on Monday, while the hosts were buoyed by their 2-1 win over Brunei in the opening fixture. The Lions remain rock bottom in Group A with two more games to go.
It was a tale of two halves as Malaysia came up from behind after Singapore gained a head start when Amiruldin Asraf let out a screamer that crashed the post along the way in the 37th minute, ending the first half with 1-0.
WATCH: Malaysia score two goals against Singapore in less than 10 minutes, putting them ahead, 2-1 #SEAGames2017 https://t.co/ySCcZoPTHl pic.twitter.com/FyWgGvAMEX
— Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia) August 16, 2017
Malaysia’s Azam Azih then scored the equalizer 20 minutes into the second half with a superb curling effort, while Thanabalan Nadarajah rounded up the victory 10 minutes later after a deflected shot landed at his feet to score.
Singapore coach Richard Tardy lamented on the physical ability and focus of the team. “I think physically we lost the game. In the first half our organisation was good and we managed to control Malaysia. We created chances and made life difficult for them, plus we scored,” he said.
He also added that the team was young and had to be realistic about the chances of playing in their first big competition. “They are very disappointed … but the defeat means something and we must work on the problems we had today so that it would not be repeated again,” the Frenchman added.
Singapore will play Laos next on Friday in a must-win match to keep its slim hopes alive before facing Brunei on Aug 23, in which the top two teams will advance to the semi-finals.
