SINGAPORE: Teerasak Poeiphimai scored twice as Thailand secured a 3-1 win over Singapore in the first leg of their Asean Hyundai Cup 2026 semi-final at Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday with Anthony Hudson’s side taking a huge stride towards a place in the final.
Teerasak struck in the 14th and 26th minutes to put the War Elephants in a commanding position before Singapore striker Shawal Anuar saw his 35th-minute penalty saved and Seksan Ratree hit Thailand’s third six minutes into the second half.
Ilhan Fandi scored from distance in the 84th minute to give the Singaporeans a glimmer of hope ahead of the second leg at Rajamangala Stadium on Tuesday as Thailand conceded for the first time in the tournament.
Singapore had started on the front foot as Gavin Lee’s side sought to make home advantage count with Shawal seeing his shot blocked and Jacob Mahler heading wide in an encouraging opening for the hosts.
It took the Thais until the 13th minute to threaten, Chaiyaphon Otton pulling a relatively harmless shot from 20 yards wide of Izwan Mahbud’s goal. But from the resulting goal kick, the visitors went in front.
Izwan rolled the ball to Hariss Harun and his pass to Kyoga Nakamura was intercepted by Seksan, who set in motion the move that gave Thailand the lead. Seksan received the ball back from Kakana Khamyok before sliding a pass into Teerasak, whose strike found the bottom corner.
The Thais could have doubled their lead eight minutes later when Teerasak tormented Hariss, using his pace and persistence to rob the veteran defender of possession and storm towards goal, only for his shot to be pushed over the bar by Izwan.
In the 26th minute, the second arrived. Teerasak started and finished the move, feeding the ball to the right from a central position to Waris Choolthong before racing into the penalty area, where an inch-perfect centre found the forward unmarked to head in his fourth goal of the tournament.
Singapore were allowed to halve the deficit almost immediately when Shawal was pushed over in the box by Yotsakon Burapha. However, Kampon Pathomakkakul kept out Shawal’s spot-kick, the Thailand goalkeeper diving to his right to push the shot to safety.
The Thais extended their lead six minutes after the interval with another incisive move that sliced through the Singapore defence. Substitute Patrik Gustavsson burst down the left to deliver a low centre to the edge of the six-yard box, from where Seksan tapped in.
With time ticking down, Ilhan, who had been introduced from the bench at half-time, bent home a delightful finish from the edge of the area with his right foot to beat Kampon via the inside of the post to give Singapore some hope ahead of the return.
