S’pore do just enough to beat Myanmar

SINGAPORE — And now for Malaysia. That was the sentiment after Singapore survived a torrid second half, when a three-goal lead was almost squandered, before prevailing 4-2 over Myanmar for a much-needed win that kept alive their defence of the ASEAN Football Federation championship title.

Underdogs Myanmar displayed plenty of tenacious fight at the National Stadium, reducing a 3-0 halftime deficit to only one goal with 30 minutes left on the clock, only to see their hopes destroyed by an own goal.

On a night when bad weather delayed the Jalan Besar kick-off between Thailand and Malaysia by more than two hours, fortunes of the four Group B teams rose and fell with every passing minute, with Malaysia twice going ahead before losing 3-2, allowing Thailand to confirm one of two semi-final places from this group.

Saturday now becomes a crucial night with Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar all still in the running for the remaining semi-final spot, though the Lions will start on the front foot from their current runner-up position with three points and a +1 goal advantage. A draw against Malaysia could well see the Lions through to the knockout stage, with Myanmar needing to beat Thailand by a sizeable margin in their final match at Jalan Besar.

There is little doubt Bernd Stange and his players were relieved when the final whistle was blown last night, though not many would have expected such a stressful evening after the opening 45 minutes. Shaiful Esah gave Singapore a 16th minute lead with a well-taken free-kick before Hariss Harun struck in rapid succession with wonderful volleys — with his right foot in the 35th minute and the left foot six minutes later.

The only bad note came in the 23rd minute when midfielder Shahdan Sulaiman was stretchered off with a broken ankle, after being knocked over by an off-balanced Khairul Amri.

Then, things turned sour. By the restart, the starting eleven Stange had sent out earlier had taken a different look. Shahdan, the iron man in the midfield, could no longer play his part after his injury. That and the absence of right-back Ismadi Mukhtar — taken off with a groin discomfort — changed the complexion of the game, said Stange.

Myanmar dangerman Kyi Lin came in after the break and made a telling difference, with the 23-year-old’s interchange of passes leading to the visitors’ first goal from Kyaw Zayar Win in the 55th minute.

And it was a long through ball from Kyi Lin that opened up the Singapore defence and led to the second goal, as Safuwan Baharudin conceded his second penalty in as many matches when adjudged to have fouled Kyaw Ko Ko in the box. The latter made no mistake from the spot.

Then, as most of the 24,000 spectators started to squirm uncomfortably in their seats, came Shaiful’s saviour with 15 minutes on the clock, a goal that took the wind out of Myanmar’s sails. Said Stange: “It was such a funny game, in fact a game of two different halves. We lost our shape and lost our sharpness (in the second half), but we held on and bounced back to score another goal.”