Malaysia outplays Japan 7-2 to stay on top

Malaysia thrashed Japan 7-2 to move on top of the table. Malaysian star striker Faizal Saari scored two goals to lead the charge, while five others made an entry in the scoresheet.

Star striker Faizal Saari scored two goals in Malaysia's massive 7-2 victory over Japan.

Hosts Malaysia posted its third successive victory in the Asian Champions Trophy when it outplayed Japan 7-2 here today to stay on top of the round-robin league standings with a maximum nine points.

Star striker Faizal Saari scored two goals to lead the Malaysian charge, while five others made an entry in the scoresheet. Japan denied the dominant Malaysian strikers a goal until the 23rd minute when Niman Nik Rosemi opened the account with a field goal.

Rashid Baharom, Nabil Noor, Firhan Ashari and Fitri Saari were the other scorers for Malaysia, who had defeated defending champions Pakistan 4-2 and China 5-1 in earlier matches.

Japan, which has lost all its three matches, got two late consolation goals from Kenji Kitazato and Kentaro Fukuda.

In the round-robin league standings, Malaysia is followed by India on seven points from three matches. Pakistan and China are on three points from three outings.