By Michael Church
(Reuters) – Malaysia handed Singapore a 4-1 thrashing in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday to set up an Asean Championship semi-final meeting with defending champions Thailand while Vietnam will take on Indonesia after their 3-0 victory over Myanmar in Hanoi.
The Malaysians will face Group A winners Thailand after a brace from Stuart Wilkin as well as efforts from Darren Lok and Sergio Aguero saw Kim Pan-gon’s side win and leapfrog over the Singaporeans into second place in Group B.
Vietnam topped the group after Kyaw Zin Lwin’s early own goal and a second from Nguyen Tien Linh sent the 2018 champions on their way to way to a comfortable win that maintained their unbeaten record in this year’s tournament.
The Vietnamese will next take on Indonesia in the first leg of the semi-finals in Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Jan. 6 with Malaysia hosting Thailand in Kuala Lumpur a day later.
The second legs of the semi-finals will be played on Jan. 9 and 10 respectively with the final to be held on a home-and-away basis on Jan. 13 and 16.
Malaysia were convincing winners over neighbours Singapore at Bukit Jalil Stadium with Lok heading in the opener from close range follow Safawi Rashid’s cross from the right 10 minutes before the interval.
Wilkin doubled the lead five minutes after the restart with a low strike from distance and, four minutes later, he added his side’s third when he turned before shooting into the bottom corner.
Faris Ramli pulled one back for Singapore in the 85th minute only for Aguero to restore Malaysia’s three-goal cushion two minutes from time.
Vietnam had few issues advancing to the next phase of the Southeast Asian tournament, Kyaw Zin Lwin scoring an own goal in the eighth minute and Tien Linh doubling the advantage 19 minutes later from close range.
Chau Ngoc Quang scored from distance to register the first international goal of his career in the 72nd minute to seal the win that takes Park Hang-seo’s side into the last four.
(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Christian Radnedge)
