Singapore out of AFF Suzuki Cup after semi-final defeat to Indonesia despite valiant effort

A 4-2 defeat to Indonesia in the semi-final second leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup saw Singapore knocked out of the tournament. 

The match, which saw several contentious refereeing decisions, saw the Lions ending the game with just eight men, after Safuwan Baharudin, Irfan Fandi and Hassan Sunny were sent off. 

Despite that, the Lions put on a valiant effort and could have clinched victory within the regulation time, only for Faris Ramli to miss a penalty right at the end of the second half. 

The Indonesians opened the scoring in the 11th minute through Ezra Walian, who was set up by Witan for the simplest of finishes. 

Singapore could have gotten a penalty then, when Amy Recha was brought down in the box, but the referee waved away appeals by the Lions. 

Shortly after, the Lions found themselves down a man. Safuwan, who had been given a yellow for a challenge earlier despite having won the ball cleanly, was given his marching orders following a tussle in the box – a decision that infuriated the Singapore bench.

But Singapore drew level immediately, when Song Uiyoung swept in his first goal of the tournament after the Indonesians failed to deal with the corner. 

Irfan was then sent off after he fouled Indonesia’s Irfan Jaya as he went through on goal. Despite the Lions having Hariss Harun tracking back, the referee felt that the Singapore defender denied a clear goalscoring opportunity and showed a straight red. 

It was however, the Lions who went ahead when Shahdan Sulaiman curled in a stupendous free-kick in the 74th minute. 

But the Lions were pegged back by the Garudas in the 87th minute. Witan had a shot parried by Hassan, and Pratama Arhan sweeped home the rebound. Replays however suggested that Pratama had been offside, which was missed by the officials. 

Then in the injury time of the second half, Shawal Anuar earned a penalty. But Faris’ attempt was well-saved by the Indonesia goalkeeper. 

After spending the majority of the game with a numerical disadvantage, fatigue crept into the Singapore team understandably. The Indonesians seized advantage in extra time, scoring two more via an unfortunate own-goal from Shawal and a tap-in from Egy Maulana. 

Goalkeeper Hassan was then sent off in the final minutes of the game, after a lunging challenge as he tried to prevent a fifth Indonesia goal, sealing defeat for the Lions.