Malaysia U20 national team take the first 3 points after winning Sri Lanka U20 national team with a score of 3-0 in the AFC U20 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers Group E at MFF Football Centre, Ulaanbaatar.
Blunt finishing is clearly once again a big problem for the national team to win by a bigger margin despite dominating parts of the game and creating many opportunities to score goals.
After 30 minutes of struggling to score, Muhammad Aliff Izwan Yuslan put the national squad in front a minute later.
Adam Farhan Mohd Faizal’s lunge pass from the middle of the field that passed three opposing defenders gave Muhammad Aliff Izwan Yuslan the opportunity to make an attempt to beat the Sri Lankan goalkeeper, WS Banuka Croos.
Four minutes later, Nazrin Mohamad Nasir got a golden opportunity in the penalty area but Banuka Croos was more than ready to deny the close range attempt.
Malaysia got the second goal in the 41st minute but Alif Izwan was blamed for using his hands in his effort to end the chance from a long pass he received.
Bad luck befell Sri Lanka in the 54th minute when RV Navod Lakshita was sent off following his second yellow card for a foul on Marwan Abdul Rahman.
The opportunity was best used by the national players to add a second goal through Adam Farhan in the 70th minute.
The goal resulted from a defensive failure and Banuka blocked Muhammad Alif Farhan Fauzi’s cross and it was easy for Adam Farhan to deny the second goal.
Aliff Izwan added the third goal in stoppage time to confirm the 3-0 victory thus giving a ray of hope for the young national squad ahead of the life and death mission against Korea Republic later.
The victory put the squad managed by Hassan Sazali Waras in second place with four points, thus having to defeat the Asian giants who are the leaders of the group, South Korea in the last action this Sunday to automatically qualify for Uzbekistan.
Credit Photo : AFC
