Malaysia Score Comfortable 2-0 Victory Over Singapore

SHAH ALAM (Selangor, Malaysia), June 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia registered a comfortable 2-0 victory over causeway neighbour Singapore in a return leg of their international friendly series at the Shah Alam Stadium here Tuesday night. Malaysia who threw away a 2-0 lead to end their first leg international friendly match at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on June 8 with a 2-2 draw, seemed to have learnt their lesson well and held stoutly to the lead. Backed by a strong crowd at the Shah Alam Stadium, Malaysia started the match on a positive note and had the Singaporeans on the ropes right from the start and deservedly took the lead in the 18th minute through Ahmad Shakir Mohd Ali while skipper Mohd Safiq Rahim who scored from a free kick in Singapore, accomplished a similar feat in the 61st minute, also from a free kick. In the first leg, Safiq had curled in a spectacular free kick into the top corner and today, albeit a little further from his earlier strike, delivered the same result, placing the ball well beyond the outstretched hands of Mohamed Hyrulnizam Juma'at in the Singapore goal. Seven minutes after Safiq's goal, the match turned into a brawl momentarily as tension ran high among players from both sides when Singapore's Mustafic Fahrudin hacked down Bunyamin Umar brutally, thus earning the marching orders from Thailand referee Teetichai. Meanwhile, Malaysian coach K. Rajagobal said he was happy with the result because the players played their hearts out. "I hope we can maintain the winning momentum," he said. Players: -------- MALAYSIA: Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, Amiridzwan Taj Tajudin (Mohd Faizal Muhamad), Mohamad Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak, Mohd Fadhli Mohd Shas, K. Gurusamy, Mohd Bunyamin Umar (Mahalli Jasuli), Mohd Safiq Rahim, S. Kunanlan, Ahmad Shakir Mohd Ali (Mohd Safee Sali), Azamuddin Mohd Akil (Shahurain Abu Samah), Norshahrul Idlan Talaha (Mohd Shakir Shaari). SINGAPORE: Mohamed Hyrulnizam Juma'at, Baihakki Khaizan, Daniel Mark Bennett, Muhammad Raihan Abdul Rahman (Safirul Sulaiman), Muhammad Irwan Shah Arismail, Mohammad Isa Abdul Halim, Shahdan Sulaiman, Mohammad Firdaus Kasman (Agu Casmir), Mustafic Fahrudin, Aleksandar Duric, Qiu Li (Ahmed Fahmie Jamil). --BERNAMA