KUALA LUMPUR: Tajikistan dashed Harimau Malaya’s hopes of winning the Merdeka Tournament for the 13th time after beating the home side 2-0 at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, here last night.
Tajikistan struck in each half through Soirov Rustam in the 44th minute and substitute Samiev Shahrom in the 88th minute to disappoint the 36,558 fans who had thronged the stadium to provide their support for the Harimau Malaya squad.
Malaysia started the match on a bright note but a lack of precision passing saw the chances fade while Tajikistan slowly gained momentum to fire the first warning when Shukurov Alisher’s attempt which was on target, was saved by goalkeeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed in the 15th minute.
Undaunted by the early scare, Malaysia continued to launch a number of attacks but Brendan Gan’s long range effort in the 27th minute and Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi’s 32nd minute attempt were saved by goalkeeper Barotov Daler.
As the match headed for the half time break, striker Soirov Rustam raced through the defence to score Tajikistan’s first goal in the 44th minute.
Stunned by the opening goal, Malaysia doubled its efforts to find the equaliser but a header by Matthew Davies off a Muhammad Safawi Rashid freekick was tipped away by Daler just seconds before the half time whistle.
At the start of the second half, coach Kim Pan Gon made two changes, bringing on Muhammad Azam Azmi Murad and Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid in place of Davies and Arif Aiman.
The move boosted the attack of the home side but goalkeeper Daler kept his team in the lead by denying an attempt by Muhammad Akhyar in the 54th minute and Corbin Ong a few minutes later.
Harimau Malaya continued to miss opportunities with Darren Lok failing with a header and Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim hitting the upright in the 76th minute.
Just as the Harimau Malaya players had upped the tempo of the match, substitute Samiev Shahrom dealt a crucial blow when he added Tajikistan’s second goal in the 88th minute to dash any hopes of a revival.
The loss ended the Malaysian Tiger’s seven match unbeaten record as well. - Bernama
