Indonesia moved into pole position in Group H with a 3-0 win against Laos while Malaysia and Australia shared a thrilling 2-2 draw in the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2027 Qualifiers on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan placed themselves in pole position in Group G with 8-0 win against Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indonesia are on four points, ahead of Australia on goal difference while Malaysia are two points adrift with one more round of matches to come on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malaysia 2-2 Australia<\/strong> Neill then beat the offside trap three minutes later but while his scooped shot beat Malaysia custodian Faez Iqhwan, the ball went just wide of the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Australia were unlucky not to go further ahead in the 27th minute when Pratezina\u2019s effort was headed clear on the goal line by Ahmad Lutfil before the match was halted at the half hour by inclement weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The match resumed after a two-hour delay with Australia holding on to their slim lead at the interval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malaysia adapted to the wet pitch the better in the second half and equalised in the 50th minute thanks to Fadhlul Hadi Zulkarnain\u2019s close range strike following a cross from Tengku Hasyri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuing to push forward, Malaysia took the lead in the 70th minute after Tengku was released into space on the left and drove into the box before picking out Izzuddin Afif who stabbed the ball high into the top corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Australia, however, fought back to salvage a point in the 82nd minute when Alaat Abdul-Rahman steered home Will Dobson\u2019s cross with Faez then denying Beckham Baker from the penalty spot for a share of the spoils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Laos 0-3 Indonesia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was advantage to Indonesia after only five minutes of play when Aleandro Maulana whipped a great cross to Fabio Azkairawan who deftly controlled the ball with his first touch and rifled home with his second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Laos thought they had equalised four minutes later when Putu Apriawan put the ball into his own net in trying to divert Souknlanh Sysomvang\u2019s cross but were denied by the offside flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indonesia doubled their lead in the 40th minute when Zahaby Gholy reacted fastest to tuck home a rebound after goalkeeper Souksamone Vethita had saved Aleandro\u2019s initial attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vethita\u2019s bravery saw the Laos custodian make a great block to stop Arkhan Kaka Putra after the Indonesian midfielder had dribbled his way into the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was, however, no stopping Zahaby in the 63rd minute as the striker curled a stunning free-kick beyond Vethita to make it 3-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japan 8-0 Cambodia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With two wins, Japan only have to avoid defeat against Yemen on Sunday to confirm their ticket to the Finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yemen revived their hopes with a 3-1 win against Kuwait in the earlier match in the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japan took control from the starting whistle and Cambodia\u2019s Farib Mat found himself in the centre of action, with the custodian going low to collect Kento Hamasaki\u2019s sweeping shot in the 10th minute and then denying the midfielder\u2019s header a minute later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jelani Makinose came close to beating Mat in the 17th minute but failed to connect to Kaede Suzuki\u2019s pass from the left, with the forward missing the ball by inches in front of a gaping goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They finally broke the stalemate in the 26th minute when Nick Schmidt\u2019s fierce strike from outside the area deflected off defender Loem Vattana and found the left hand corner of the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Cambodia custodian kept the scoreline intact when he pushed Homare Tokuda\u2019s low shot onto the left post in the 43rd minute but was unable to prevent the Japan skipper from rising high a minute later to head into the top left for their second goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2016 champions maintained their attacking momentum after the break, and the Cambodia backline finally gave way in the 68th minute when Sunao Kidera picked up a loose ball in the 18-yard box and slotted past an out-of-position Mat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japan added goal number four in the 74th minute through Futa Tokumura, who stabbed the ball into an empty goalmouth after Hiroto Asada\u2019s diagonal pass from the right caught the Cambodia keeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hosts further crumbled when Asuto Fujita half-volleyed home in the 78th minute, followed by Vattana finding the back of his own net two minutes later and Ryuki Osa coming down the left a minute before regulation to drive his shot beyond Mat\u2019s grasp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another own goal, this time by skipper Vreak Phan three minutes into stoppage time, closed the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Group A: <\/strong>Lebanon beat Kyrgyzstan 3-2 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Group B: <\/strong>Uzbekistan beat India 4-0; Syria beat Bangladesh 3-0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group C:<\/strong> Palestine beat Vietnam 2-1; North Korea beat Iran 2-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group D<\/strong>: Jordan beat Bahrain 2-1; Tajikistan beat Afghanistan 4-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group E<\/strong>: Saudi Arabia beat Oman 3-2; Qatar beat Hong Kong 3-0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group F: <\/strong>Thailand beat Turkmenistan 1-0; Iraq beat UAE 2-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group G:<\/strong> Japan beat Cambodia 8-0; Yemen beat Kuwait 3-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group H: <\/strong>Indonesia beat Laos 3-0; Malaysia drew Australia 2-2<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group I: <\/strong>Guam beat Northern Mariana Islands 3-0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group J: <\/strong>Chinese Taipei beat Bhutan 2-1; Singapore beat Macao 1-0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group K<\/strong>: Maldives beat Sri Lanka 4-0; Myanmar beat Brunei 7-0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Indonesia moved into pole position in Group H with a 3-0 win against Laos while Malaysia and Australia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[63],"class_list":["post-15423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
The defending champions got off to a great start, taking the lead in the fourth minute after Lewis Antoniou headed down Michael Pratezina\u2019s free-kick for Marcus Neill to tap home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n