THAILAND TAKE 2-0 LEAD: Kroekrit Thawikan of Thailand celebrates after scoring against Malaysia at the Rajamangala stadium in Bangkok. Thailand beat Malaysia 2-0 in the first leg of the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup final.
The second leg will be held at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday. — Reuters photo
BANGKOK: Malaysia will face an uphill task to overcome a two goal deficit after losing 0-2 to Thailand in the first leg of the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup at the Rajamangala National Stadium, here tonight.
Malaysia, winner of the cup in 2010 will face Thailand in the second leg at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday.
On paper, the two goal deficit might look like an uphill task but coach Dollah Salleh’s boys can turn the tables on Thailand if they can produce a performance, similar to the one against Vietnam in Hanoi.
Malaysia who were trailing Vietnam 1-2 after the first leg semifinal in the Shah Alam Stadium, pulled off a splendid surprise by beating Vietnam 4-2 in the second leg and go through to the final with a 5-4 aggregate.
Dollah may however, need to make a number of changes to the side that played today, since some players could not live up to expectation.
The start of the second half saw the home team stamp their superiority by launching a wave of attack on the Malaysian goal, testing Mohd Farizal to the limit.
While the players from Thailand were growing in confidence, the Malaysian players were finding it more and more difficult to break into the final half of the Thai defence.
Malaysia had to wait until the 62nd minute to have a decent shot at goal in the second half when Norshahrul’s attempt hit a defender while another Amri Yahya’s shot was saved by Kawin.
But while the Malaysian strikers were missing their target, Thailand got closer and closer to rattling Mohd Farizal in goal despite the latter making a timely save from Adisak in the 67th minute.
However, his gallant saves were in vain when Thailand were awarded a penalty in the 72nd minute as Adisak was fouled inside the box and Charylyannic made no mistake with the spot kick although Mohd Farizal guessed the right way.
The goal put Malaysia in disarray and were merely chasing shadows for most part of the match and in their eagerness to score, left gaps in defence which was well exploited by the Thais.
In the 85th minute, Thailand launched a quick counter-attack when Malaysia lost the ball in transit at the halfway mark and Kroekrit combined well with Chanathip to bury the ball past Mohd Farizal.
Malaysia had one last chance to reduce the deficit when striker Indra Putra Mahayuddin found himself in a good position but his strike was off target. – BERNAMA