NAYPYITAW (13 Dec 2013) – Singapore cruised past ten-man Brunei 2-0 at the Zeyar Thiri Stadium to pick up their second full points in Group A and at the same time, set up a mouth watering, decisive encounter against Malaysia in two days.
With the passage to the next round still hangs in the balance, the young Lions side showed a lot of confidence going into the game as they came off a famous 1-0 victory over Vietnam two days earlier.
Singapore controlled much of the action at the start and pushed Brunei into their own half but for all their possessions in the opening quarter, the goal was just not forthcoming as Brunei keeper Omar Nur Aqammaddin Sallehuddin made a string of timely saves.
It was not until the 35th minute that Singapore finally opened the cagey Brunei defence when Harris Harun (pix) turned the ball after receiving from deep for a half volley to beat Omar Nur.
Brunei’s Muhammad Azwan Ali Rahman came close with the equalizer just before the break but his shot was off even though Singapore keeper Muhammad Izwan Mahbud was off position.
The Singapore youngsters began very much the same way as they had done in the first with their excellent teamwork to dictate the pace of the game and in the 58th minute, Mohammad Sahil Suhaimi was once again on target after squeezing past Muhammad Afi Aminuddin and Muhammad Kahiri Suhaimi.
Brunei’s attempt for an equalizer just fall short of the target as both Muhammad Azwan and also Adi Said just lacked the idea when they reached the final quarter of the Singapore half.
But a red card on Brunei’s Mohammad Kahiri in the 65th minute for an off the ball incident, took the steam out of Brunei as they were left to packed their defence to ensure that Singapore do not add to the scoreline.
