PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s 46-year wait for a victory over China continued after they went down 0-2 in a friendly in Guangdong on Saturday (Nov 14).
Harimau Malaya, missing most of their usual first-stringers, were put on the back foot early as hosts China took the lead in just 10 minutes when Wang Yudong scored at the Zhaoqing New District Sports Centre Stadium.
Nine minutes later, Zhang Yuning doubled the lead with another goal and controlled the game’s pace heading into half-time.
Malaysia tried to mount a comeback in the second half, with Fergus Tierney piercing through China’s defence before putting the ball in the net, but his goal was disallowed due to offside after VAR review.
Tierney, however, would not see the final whistle after picking up a second yellow card for arguing following a foul from China’s Alex Yang in the 90th minute.
Head coach Tan Cheng Hoe was without the services of Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) players, as well as several Selangor players who were unfit due to injury.
Malaysia will face Yemen in another friendly fixture at the same venue on Tuesday (Nov 17).
