Resilient Nepal fall short as Malaysia clinch 1–0 victory

Malaysia had to work hard before edging Nepal 1-0 in their AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ Qualifiers Final Round Group F tie at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Tuesday.
With Vietnam only playing Laos on Wednesday, Malaysia moved six points clear at the top with the victory.

Malaysia were the early aggressors, Nooa Laine sending Dion Cools through in the second minute with the Cerezo Osaka defender slicing his shot narrowly wide.

The home side suffered a setback seven minutes later when key attacker Arif Aiman was forced off with an injury, with Faisal Halim introduced into the fray.

Nepal lived dangerously by sitting off Malaysia with chances falling the way of Cools and Safawi Rasid but goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu dealt with those efforts comfortably.

Malaysia’s threat in the air was also prominent with a Corbin Ong bullet header that went just wide before Kumar Limbu came to the rescue of Nepal with a reflex save from a point-blank Cools header in the 37th minute.

After the interval, Kiran Limbu once again prevented Malaysia from taking the lead in the 51st minute, pulling off a one-handed save to push away Stuart Wilkin’s low strike.

The Nepal custodian, however, could do nothing five minutes later when Safawi’s through pass found Faisal, who calmly slotted past the advancing Kiran Limbu to put Malaysia in front.

The momentum was firmly in Malaysia’s favour but the Southeast Asian side were wasteful in front of goal with efforts from Safawi, Muhammad Ubaidullah, Faisal and Laine off target.

Fouls in quick succession by Laken Limbu on Harith Haikal saw the midfielder receive two cautions and concede penalty which Paulo Josue fired over in stoppage time but Malaysia still closed out the win.