Malaysia defender Mohamad Faris shields the ball from UAE skipper Mohammed Al Ameri in their final Group D clash.TASHKENT – United Arab Emirates avoided the wooden spoon in Group D as they held on to beat Malaysia 3-2 in their final group stage match at the AFC U-16 Championship on Thursday.
UAE raced out to a 2-0 lead at half-time with goals by Marwan Al Saffar and Mohamed Hussain and appeared to have sewn up the match at MHSK Stadium when Haddaf Al Ameri made it 3-0 in the 58th minute.
But Muhamad Bukhari pulled a goal back for Malaysia from the penalty spot in the 68th minute and added his second of the match four minutes later to set up a nervous finish for the Emirates.
UAE had seen their chances of reaching the quarter-finals evaporate after having the point from their opening 1-1 draw with Yemen taken away for fielding an ineligible player and they entered the match in last place with no points.
Malaysia still had a faint chance of progress and began the match well, creating the first chance in the fifth minute when Mohammad Saidin put a header wide before Saarvindran Devandrn sent a powerful drive from just inside the area just over the bar shortly afterwards.
But it was the Emirates that scored with virtually their first chance of the game in the 16th minute when Al Saffar fired a long-range free-kick past Zulfadhli bin Mohamed into the top right corner of the net.
Zulfadhli was beaten again in the 28th minute when Fahad Salim’s cross from the right flew over the Malaysian defence and found Mohamed Hussain, who slammed a left-footed drive past the Malaysian custodian.
Malaysia should have cut the deficit three minutes before the break when Mohamad Fandi’s free-kick was deflected by a UAE defender to Saidin whose weak shot went straight into the hands of UAE goalkeeper Eesa Abbas.
Gary Steven fired wide for Malaysia early in the second half and that miss appeared costly when UAE extended their lead in the 58th minute as Marwan Al Saffar’s free-kick from the left found Haddaf Al Ameri whose effort found the back of the net with the aid of a deflection off a Malaysian defender.
Malaysia pulled a goal back midway through the second half when Hasan Al Shanifi fouled Saiful Ridzuwan inside the box and Bukhari made not mistake from the penalty spot.
Bukhari netted his second of the night with a 30-yard stunner four minutes later but UAE held on in the closing minutes for the 3-2 win.
Source:The AFC.com
