Singapore are through to the semi-finals of the 2013 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games despite being denied all three points after a late equaliser earned Malaysia a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Following a goalless first half at the Zayyarthiri Stadium, it was Singapore who opened the scoring on the hour mark when Afiq Yunos stabbed home on the rebound from four yards out, after Safuwan Baharudin’s towering header at the far post had come back off the woodwork.
And despite having to endure a number of close shaves, it looked as though the Cubs had done enough to hold on to the win.
Nonetheless, as the clock ticked over into injury-time, Harimau Muda were awarded a freekick on the edge of the box, allowing Rozaimi Abdul Rahman to step up and curl a lovely left-footed effort over the wall and past Izwan Mahbud.
Still, the result was enough to see Singapore qualify from Group A as there is no way both Malaysia and Vietnam can match their points tally of eight, given they both face off on Tuesday in the final Group A match-day.
In Sunday’s late game, Vietnam moved a point behind Malaysia after cruising to a 5-0 victory over Laos, who were eliminated in the process.
Pham Manh Hung fired the Vietnamese ahead in the 28th minute, before Nguyen Van Quyet struck two minutes later to give them a comfortable lead at the break.
Van Quyet then doubled his tally for the evening in the 75th minute to make it 3-0 and Vu Minh Tuan killed off the contest with a fourth four minutes later, before Mac Hong Quan netted three minutes from time to round off the scoring for Vietnam.
Sunday’s 2013 SEA Games Group A Results
Singapore 1-1 Malaysia
Laos 0-5 Vietnam
Football SEA 