Malaysia grab late equaliser to deny S. Korea comeback win

 

Faisal Halim celebrating in front of South Korea’s star man Son Heung-min after scoring Malaysia’s first goal. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: A late equaliser from Romel Morales helped Harimau Malaya grab a 3-3 draw against the Asian Cup favourites South Korea tonight.

The draw, however, failed to take Malaysia into the knockout stage as only the top two teams in each group and the four best third-placed teams progressed.

South Korea, who dominated the match, grabbed the first goal through a header from forward Jeong Woo-yeong, with VAR confirming that the ball had crossed the line.

Forward Faisal Halim then equalised for Malaysia just five minutes into the second half, before Arif Aiman scored a penalty kick to give Harimau Malaya the lead.

After multiple attempts from the Taeguk Warriors to break Malaysia’s defence, Paris Saint Germain winger Lee Kang-in scored a splendid free kick past Syihan Hazmi.

Four minutes into injury time, South Korea were awarded a penalty, which captain Son Heung-min put away.

However, after coming on as a substitute, Morales scored the last-minute equaliser for Malaysia from the edge of the penalty box, 12 minutes into time added on.

The draw gave Malaysia their first point in the Asian Cup after three matches, having lost 4-0 to Jordan and 1-0 to Bahrain during the first two Group E fixtures.

With just one point from three matches, Malaysia finished last in the group and failed to qualify for the knockout stage. - FMT