SHAH ALAM (14 Nov 2012) – Malaysia were still without a win in three friendly matches when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Hong Kong at the Shah Alam Stadium tonight.
While the Malaysians had powered through Hong Kong 3-0 last month, this time round, there were made to work really hard against a team which had made six changes to their side as they included striker Jaimes Mckee from Hong Kong FC.
Utilising the strike pair of Safee Sali and Norsharul Idlan Talaha upfront, the hosts pushed hard early in the game but the Hong Kong defence stood firm to put the score on level terms at the half.
But in the 58th minute, Malaysia finally broke the deadlock when Safee headed in the cross from Amar Rohidan for his 20th goal in 45 appearances.
Malaysia then gained an advantage in the 80th minute when Hong Kong defender Lee Chi Ho picked up his second yellow card for his entanglement with Safee.
Unfortunately, the numerical advantage did not give Malaysia the upper hand where instead, it was Hong Kong who found the back of the net late in the game when Lam Kok Hei capitalized on a misunderstanding between Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak and keeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat to score.
