Malaysia edge Singapore 2-1 in football friendly

SINGAPORE: Interim head coach Gavin Lee experienced a baptism of fire in his first game in charge of the Singapore national men's football team as they lost 2-1 to Malaysia in a friendly at the Bukit Jalil Stadium on Thursday (Sep 4) evening.

The hosts took the game to the Lions early on, possibly buoyed by the Kuala Lumpur home crowd and their last competitive match when they thumped Vietnam 4-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier in June.

Arif Aiman's snap shot from range forced a smart save from Singapore goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud. Izwan then spilled Brazil-born Joao Figueiredo's strike from the edge of the box, but Stuart Wilkin could not pounce on the loose ball. 

By the 15th minute, Malaysia had earned their third corner of the match, with two yellow cards for the away team. After Nazmi Faiz lashed a shot over the bar and Arif saw his attempt on goal blocked, Harimau Malaya finally broke the deadlock in the 26th minute.

Wilkin chested down a lobbed pass from Endrick, another naturalised Brazilian, and burst into the box before smashing the ball into the roof of the net.

Singapore earned just their second corner five minutes from half-time, but it failed to beat the first man.

Lee was handed the temporary reins following Tsutomu Ogura's resignation as head coach in late June due to personal reasons. The Football Association of Singapore, which appointed its new general secretary earlier this week, is in the process of shortlisting candidates for the post.

The last Causeway derby in December last year ended in a goal-less stalemate, a result that saw Singapore qualify for the semi-finals of the ASEAN Cup at the expense of Malaysia.

This is the first of two friendlies ahead of a double-header against India in next month's Asian Cup