Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Singapore: Chinese Taipei pulled off a AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifying upset as they outplayed Singapore 2-1 in their qualifier at Jalan Besar Stadium to go top of Group B on Saturday.
Hariss Harun put Singapore ahead after just six minutes but the visitors replied through Xavier Chen Tsan-yuan and Chen Chao-an to secure a deserved away result.
The hosts started brightly with Shahdan Sulaiman a threat from attacking set-plays in the opening minutes. It was his corner after six minutes that saw Hariss head the ball home inside the box to put them in front.
Instead of building on their early advantage, Singapore were content to sit back and play a conservative defensive game. That allowed Chinese Taipei to control proceedings and press with their quick-passing game.
The visitors almost drew level on 26 minutes when Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny pulled off an instinctive low save to turn away a goal-bound shot from Yen Tavio inside the box.
Chinese Taipei would not be denied four minutes later when Xavier Chen drilled home a rebound from the edge of the box after the initial free-kick from Chen Hao-wei was blocked by the Singapore wall.
Kazuo Kuroda’s men continued where they left off in the second half as they kept up their attacking tempo, approaching the Singapore box with confidence and purpose.
Their pressure reaped rewards on the hour as a defensive miscommunication inside the Singapore box saw the spilled ball reach the path of Chen Chao-an, who had the simple task of nodding it into an empty net.
The closest Singapore came to levelling the scores came in the 69th minute when substitute Hafiz Sujad could only produce a weak low shot straight at Chinese Taipei goalkeeper Chiu Yu-hung after he received a flick-on from Safuwan Baharudin inside the box.
Chu En-le almost put the game beyond doubt for Chinese Taipei 10 minutes from time when he beat the offside trap to receive a through pass from Chen Hao-wei, only for his shot to be deflected wide by Hassan.
Photo: Football Association of Singapore