Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Johor Baru: Ahmad Hazwan Bakri netted a brace and provided an assist to put Malaysia in the driving seat to reach the third qualifying round for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup as the home side recorded a 3-0 win over Timor-Leste in the first leg of their play-off encounter at Stadium Tan Sri Dato Hj Hassan Yunos on Thursday.
Hazwan struck after 17 minutes as the Selangor forward scored with a back heel from Fazly Mazlan’s low cross before adding a second four minutes later when he finished off an Azrif Nasrulhaq pass from close range.
And Amri Yahyah completed the scoring with four minutes remaining as the substitute finished off a through lob from Hazwan as the hosts moved into a strong position to qualify for the third round ahead of Monday’s second leg at the same venue.
"It is a good win, but the tie is not over yet as there is still 90 minutes to play,” said Malaysia coach Ong Kim Swee. "Our players moved the ball very well, especially in the first half, and played according to instructions tonight.
"We managed to score three goals tonight, but what was pleasing for me is we kept a third straight clean sheet.
"We were caught napping a few times in the second half but we managed to get away with it. Izham Tarimizi was brilliant and his second half saves kept us in the game.”
With five Johor Darul Ta’zim players named in the Malaysia starting line-up, coach Ong Kim Swee was banking on home advantage to take the initiative in the first leg.
And that paid off after just 17 minutes when Malaysia took the lead as a hasty clearance only reached as far as Mazlan, who brought the ball back into the penalty area and drilled low for the Selangor striker to back heel the ball into the net.
Malaysia had their second goal of the evening four minutes later when Hazwan took advantage of the generous space afforded to him inside the area to finish off from an Azrif pass.
Hazwan wasted an opportunity to complete the hat-trick just before the half-hour mark when his first-time effort following a corner smashed against the crossbar.
Timor-Leste goalkeeper Ramos Ribeiro then denied Malaysia either side of half-time with saves to deny Baddrol Bakhtiar, Brendan Gan, Shahrom Kalam and Amirulhadi Zainal.
And the visitors finally stepped up their tempo at the other end in the second half after Timor-Leste had failed to threaten Malaysia goalkeeper Izham Tarimizi in the first 45 minutes.
Johor goalkeeper Tarimizi first turned away Diogo Santos Rangel’s 65th minute free-kick before saving from substitute Frangcyatma Alves as the Malaysia defence hesitated with a free-kick played into the area seven minutes later.
But substitute Amri made the game safe for Malaysia four minutes from time when he evaded the attention of the Timor-Leste defence to slot home a lob assist from Hazwan.
"We started the second half better than the first,” said Timor-Leste coach Fabio Maciel. “If we had scored our chances in the second half, we could have put Malaysia under a lot of pressure. Malaysia dropped off a bit in fitness and concentration in the second half, especially in the last 15 minutes.
"There is a big difference between us and Malaysia. Malaysia have really competitive players who have played in Asia and showed their experience, but we kept fighting and did not give up.”
Photo: AFC