Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Taipei: Malaysia scraped into the second round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers despite going down 3-2 to Chinese Taipei on Sunday, with the ASEAN champions advancing courtesy of away goals following last week's 2-1 triumph in Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysians admitted disappointment at failure not to win by a bigger margin in last Wednesday's first round, first leg but it looked as though the profligacy at home wasn't going to prove too costly when Mohd Aidil Radzak, scorer of Malaysia's second at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, took his side's aggregate lead to 3-1 with just eight minutes at the Taipei Municipal Stadium played.
Han Chang pulled one back for Chinese Taipei just after the half-hour mark but Safiq Rahim, who bagged Malaysia's first-leg opener, restored the visitors' two-goal cushion when the Selangor striker made it 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate with five minutes of the first-half left to play.
However, Chen Po Liang brought the home side to within one goal of the Malaysians for minutes later, also ensuring that every player who scored in the first-leg was also on target in the second.
In the 75th minute Malaysia conceded a penalty for the second time in the match which was successfully converted by Xavier Chen to set up a nervous final quarter-of-an-hour for K. Rajagopal's side.
But Chinese Taipei could not find the fourth goal that would take them through and the Malaysians advanced by the skin of their teeth for an eagerly anticipated second round clash with ASEAN rivals Singapore.