Malaysia’s ‘Tour of Ocenia’ got off to a disappointing start after they incurred a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby, earlier today.
Ong Kim Swee promised to ring the changes prior to the match and he fulfilled his promise by naming the likes of Farhan Abu Bakar, Fakri Saarani and even Latiff Suhaimi in the starting eleven.
But despite dominating possession for the first 25 minutes or so, Malaysia were unable to create any tangible opportunities in the final third. That allowed PNG to slowly work their way into the game, before they eventually broke the deadlock through Tommy Semmy on the 35th minute mark.
Seven minutes later, the home side made it 2-0, with Tommy Semmy grabbing his second goal of the day with a clinical finish. OKS responded instantly by bringing on five players in the second half, including Kunanlan, Fazly Mazlan, and S. Chanturu.
But despite controlling the tempo of the match, the closest Malaysia ever got to a goal was through Christie Jayaseelan’s thumping effort on the 82nd minute, though it only managed to rattle the bar, before going out for a goal-kick. PNG did enough to hold on in the last few minutes as they completed a convincing 2-0 win over the Malaysian Tigers.
Malaysia will continue their Oceania Tour by taking on New Caledonia on the 22nd of June.
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