STRIKER Hadi Fayyadh Abdul Razak kept his promise of getting the goals when he scored twice as Malaysia squeezed back into the reckoning in SEA Games football tournament by beating minnows Timor Leste 4-0 in their group A encounter at the Rizal Memorial Stadium yesterday.
Malaysia started with a stroke of luck in the fifth minute when Timor Leste’s centreback Filomeno Costa inadvertently bundled in an innocuous-looking first touch from Syamer Kutty Abba into his own net.
The second, in the 33rd minute, was all skill as a dangerous pass by Syahmi Safari fooled the defence and Hadi capitalised by slamming into an open goal.
Ten minutes later, Hadi made it 3-0 when he pounced on a Faisal Halim’s attempt which cannoned off the bar of Fagio Perreira’s goal.
Two substitutes sealed the matter for Malaysia in the 80th minute with Akhyar Rashid finishing off a through pass from R. Kogileswaran
Malaysia will now have to beat Cambodia tomorrow and hope that the Philippines slip up against Timor Leste.
Myanmar have qualified for the semi-final from Group A with 10 points, after beating Cambodia 2-1 yesterday.