Indonesia 2 Malaysia 3: Sumareh's late winner brings joy in Jakarta

BetOdds WC Qualification Asia Indonesia v Malaysia Indonesia Malaysia

Malaysia came from behind twice to record an impressive 3-2 win at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium to make a positive start to the WC qualifying campaign.

The crowd trouble was untoward and caused many a concern to traveling Malaysian fans at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium but it will not take away what proved to be Malaysia's first win over Indonesia on enemy ground since 2004.

Twice Malaysia had to come from behind to peg Indonesia before eventually picking up all three points thanks to Mohamadou Sumareh's late winner in the 97th minute of the match, after the match was stopped in the second half because of crowd invasion from the stands.

Cheng Hoe sprung a surprise right from the start by opting to field Syafiq Ahmad instead of Akram Mahinan in midfield, which gave Malaysia a very attacking outlook. On the opposite side, Saddil Ramdani was given a starting berth by Simon McMenemy as both coaches look to catch each other off-guard.

Malaysia did have a solid enough start to the match, settling down well to control play but found the Indonesian defence a tough one to break down. Defensively, Malaysia tried to operate a high line but saw the home side repeatedly beating the offside trap.

Harimau MalayaÂ found themselves behind after just 11 minutes of game time when Alberto Goncalves' clever run was picked up by Saddil and the Madura United striker prodded the ball past an advancing Farizal Marlias to gvie the home side a 1-0 lead.

Another surprise inclusion in the starting line-up for Malaysia was Hadin Azman but the Felda United man struggled to impose himself in the game and was put out of his misery in the 33rd minute, with Sumareh coming on for him.

That change sparked Malaysia to life and a minute later, the tie was level. Nor Azam found his club team mate in Sumareh and the latter picked his spot to place the ball past Andritany Ardhiyasa to make it 1-1. But the euphoria of getting back in the match only lasted three minutes as the match swung back in favour of the home side.

A match that could afford very little mistake, Malaysia made one and it proved costly. Andik picked up a loose pass and fed Goncalves. The 38-year-old steadied himsefl and unleashed a powerful long range strike that Farizal could do little about to send Indonesia into a 2-1 half time lead.

The home side could have doubled their lead early in the second had Stefano Lilipaly been more careful with his shot after he had done all the hard work of twisting and turning Adam Nor Azlin. Indonesia would live to regret that missed chance as Malaysia heaped on the pressure for the rest of the match.

Syafiq was put through on goal in the 61st minute but for an oustanding block by Ricky Fajrin, Malaysia would have found their second equaliser. But the away side were not to be denied just five minutes later when Safawi Rasid's cross was met by Syafiq to make it 2-2.

Then came the unruly episode from the home fans but Malaysia would have the last laugh when Matthew Davies drove down the right hand side and while his cross evaded substitute Syamer Kutty Abba, Sumareh was at the far post to put away Malaysia's third goal of the match and sealed an incredible night in Jakarta.

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What is like playing football tic-tac-toe? #HarimauMalaya #Malaysia #INAvMAS #WCQ2022 #ACQ2023

A post shared by Goal Malaysia (@goal_malaysia) on Sep 4, 2019 at 5:24am PDT

2019-09-05 18:00:02

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