KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia ground out a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Hong Kong in a friendly match ahead of their Asian Cup qualifiers at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
National coach Kim Pan Gon made nine changes with only Syamer Kutty Abba and Dion Cools remaining from the first 11 that beat Brunei 4-0 last week.
Hong Kong started with only one of their four naturalised Brazilians in goalkeeper Paulo Cesar da Silva Argolo.
Malaysia's reshuffled first 11 began brightly with striker Darren leading the line with Arif Aiman Hanafi and Akhyar Rashid on the flanks.
In the opening 30 minutes, Malaysia dominated ball possession as Hong Kong sat deep to play a compact game.
Despite their dominance, world No 154 Malaysia lacked bite in the final third and couldn't trouble world No 147 Hong Kong much as their pattern of play became repetitive.
Malaysia finally got their breakthrough after Akhyar was felled inside the box by a Hong Kong defender in the 29th minute, leading to referee Suhaizi Shukri pointing to the spot. Safawi made no mistake, slamming the ball past Hong Kong goalkeeper da Silva Argolo.
Malaysia continued to press but found it hard to break Hong Kong's resolute defence as the first half ended with a 1-0 advantage to the hosts.
In the second half, it was the same story as Malaysia's flank play pegged Hong Kong back but they still could not deliver the final blow.
Pan Gon then brought in midfielders Safiq Rahim, Mohamadou Sumareh, and striker Guilherme De Paula to inject pace for the tiring Safawi, Akhyar and Darren in the 60th minute but there was little impact.
Sumareh escaped sanction from Suhaizi after he retaliated to a foul from Hong Kong's Ngan Lok Fung in the 85th minute.
As frustration grew in the Malaysian camp, Hong Kong started to look more dangerous and launched counter attacks.
However, veteran Safiq's deflected freekick in the 90th minute from the edge of the box sealed the win for Harimau Malaya and ended any hopes of a comeback from Hong Kong.