Thailand reach the Championship final
Thailand booked their berth in the final showdown with Singapore after clinching a 2-0 win over defending champions Malaysia in the Asean Championship semifinal second leg to secure a 3-1 aggregate victory yesterday.
Holding a slight advantage following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in the Malaysian capital on Sunday, three-time champions Thailand quickly went on the front foot but struggled to make inroads into the visitors’ resilient defending.
The first half featured a few chances for both sides, with the best scoring opportunity falling to Thai striker Teerasil Dangda, who latched onto Datsakorn Thonglao’s splendid defense-splitting pass but saw his effort trickle just wide of the far post.
The turning point of the game, though, came on stroke of halftime when the visitors were reduced to 10 men and the home side made the most of their numerical advantage with second half strikes from Teerasil, who took his tally in the tournament to five goals to lead the scoring chart, and Theerathon Bunmathan.
The Thai team will face Singapore in the final, which also used the home-and-away format. They first visit the city state on December 19 before hosting the return leg at Supachalasai National stadium three days later.
