AFF Championship: Lions unconvincing in 2-0 win over Laos
The Lions got the three points they coveted and kept their first clean sheet under Takayuki Nishigaya, but their 2-0 AFF Championship win over hosts Laos on Tuesday left much to be desired.
Before the match, Laos coach Michael Weiss noted that Vietnam and Malaysia, who beat them 6-0 and 5-0 respectively, are the better teams in the group, and his team justified his assessment by restricting world No. 160 Singapore to a slim victory in the Group B match in Vientiane.
The visitors made six changes to the side that started in the 3-2 win over Myanmar at Jalan Besar on Saturday, as the likes of Hassan Sunny, Irfan Fandi and Song Ui-young were reinstated. But they were sluggish from the start, slow in transition and missed Christopher van Huizen’s crosses and Shawal Anuar’s pace up front.
In fact, with some luck, the 187th-ranked hosts may even have stolen a point after heeding their coach’s call to be more attack-minded.
Laos skipper Soukaphone Vongchiengkham recorded the first shot on target in the 12th minute, forcing Hassan into a smart save with a 25m belter.
Struggling to create from open play, Singapore took the lead from a set-piece as Zulfahmi Arifin’s beautiful delivery was powerfully headed in by Irfan for his second international goal.
Instead of going on to rack up the goals to narrow the goal difference gap with Vietnam and Malaysia, the Lions conceded opportunities from balls over the top.
They had the woodwork to thank just a minute after the break when Phithack Kongmathilath thumped against the bar. On the hour mark, Hassan had to be alert to deny Chony Wenpaserth’s shot from squeezing into the bottom corner.
In between, Faris Ramli squandered a glorious chance to double Singapore’s lead when he rounded goalkeeper Keo-Oudone Souvannasangso only to have a soft shot cleared off the line by the recovering Anantaza Siphongphan.
The four-time champions continued to live on the edge as Phathana Phommathep’s cross was sliced wide by Phonsack Seesavath near the end of the match, before Shawal pickpocketed the Laos goalkeeper in added time for his fourth international goal in three games.
Analysis
With the win, Singapore climbed to second in the group, level on six points with leaders Malaysia but behind on goal difference.
Vietnam will play Malaysia later on Tuesday, and then Singapore on Friday, which could still affect the standings.
But if the form book holds and Vietnam manage to beat both Causeway rivals and top the group, it could leave the Tigers with the goal difference advantage against the Lions before they meet at Bukit Jalil on Jan 3.
That would mean a draw would be enough for Malaysia to go through to the semi-finals as runners-up and Singapore have to go for the win if they want to progress at their neighbours’ expense.
With Hariss Harun, Shahdan Sulaiman, Hafiz Nor and Ilhan Fandi walking the disciplinary tightrope with one yellow card each, they also have to be smart and disciplined against Vietnam to avoid being suspended for the Malaysia match.
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