(Photo AFF)
Ten-man Indonesia showed resilience to hold Malaysia to a goalless draw in their FIFA ASEAN Cup Group A tie last night.
The other match saw Singapore pick up a hard-fought 1-0 win against Bangladesh to leave the group firmly in the balance.
Indonesia and Malaysia are on four points with Singapore one adrift with the final round of matches to be played on Thursday.
Malaysia 0-0 Indonesia
With both nations having won their opening fixtures, top spot was on the line in the latest installment of the Nusantara Derby.
Things were tight over a tense opening spell that saw Malaysia come the closest as firstly Faisal Halim and then Nooa Laine flashed efforts narrowly wide.
The complexion of the clash then changed as the hosts Thom Haye was shown, after a VAR review, a straight red for a challenge on the lively Arif Aiman.
Even with a man down, Indonesia didn’t look to sit back and they saw Dean James force Syihan Hazmi into a diving save before captain Kevin Diks smashed an effort from a tight angle into the side netting.
A pair of Malaysian substitutes, firstly Paulo Josue and then Fergus Tierney, pushed headed efforts wide of the target before a fine Maarten Paes save and then a superb Justin Hubner goal-line clearance denied the visitors late on, as things finished goalless in the capital.
Singapore 1-0 Bangladesh
Gavin Lee made two changes to his Singapore side, while Bangladesh made four, ahead of what was a must-win encounter in Java.
It was the Lions who set the early tempo, and after a fingertip save from Mehedi Srabon had denied Ikhsan Fandi, they went ahead with 10 minutes left to play in the first half.
It was a goal scripted by buccaneering full-back Nur Adam Abdullah who strode forward down the left and crossed for Harhys Stewart to pilot a header past Srabon.
The Bangladesh No1 was keeping his nation in the contest and pulled off another fine save to deny Shah Shahiran early in the second half before the South Asian nation had a chance of their own as New York Cosmos striker Shamit Shome pushed a header narrowly wide.
The narrow win now moves Singapore right back into title contention ahead of a group closing clash with Malaysia on Thursday while Bangladesh will close out their campaign against Indonesia.
