Harimau Malaya Fall 2-0 to China After Early Goals in Zhaoqing
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Credit : Xinhua
ZHAOQING, November 14, 2026 — Harimau Malaya were beaten 2-0 by China in their first friendly of the November window, as two early goals at the Zhaoqing New District Sports Centre left Tan Cheng Hoe’s reshuffled side chasing the game from the tenth minute.
Wang Yudong, the 20-year-old China forward, opened the scoring in the 10th minute, arriving at the far post to head in a cross from Lin Liangming after a move down the right, according to Xinhua. Nine minutes later Zhang Yuning doubled the lead, collecting a ball over the Malaysian defence from Wang Shangyuan and chipping the goalkeeper from inside the penalty area. The ASEAN Football Federation confirmed both scorers and the 2-0 result.
Malaysia thought they had a way back in the 77th minute when Fergus Tierney found the net, but the goal was ruled out after a VAR review. Xinhua and the New Straits Times reported that the referee disallowed it for a foul in the build-up; some other Malaysian reports instead described the decision as offside. Either way, the score stayed 2-0.
The visitors’ evening worsened in the 90th minute, when Tierney was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a foul, Xinhua said, leaving Malaysia with 10 men. Xinhua also reported that China goalkeeper Li Hao made two important saves in the closing stages to keep a clean sheet.
The defeat came at the start of a difficult camp for interim head coach Tan Cheng Hoe. The Football Association of Malaysia had already been forced to revise its 23-man squad after six Selangor players withdrew because of injury, a change FAM announced before the team left for Guangdong and which the New Straits Times also recorded. Malaysia play Yemen in their second Tier 1 friendly at the same venue on Tuesday, November 17.
China, under head coach Shao Jiayi, had the match under control after the early burst. Xinhua described a lively first half, and the official Chinese report said the hosts made a series of changes after the interval as the contest settled. Malaysia, who had named a defensive-minded starting side according to later local reports, could not find a reply once the first two goals had gone in.
The result is a setback, but it is still only a friendly. Cheng Hoe’s immediate task is to tighten the back line, use the remaining days in Zhaoqing and try to send the window out on a better note against Yemen. Several senior names were already missing from this trip, and the late red card to Tierney is a further concern ahead of Tuesday, depending on how the authorities treat a dismissal in a friendly.
Xinhua said the win ended a losing streak from China’s previous international window, with Wang’s early header and Zhang’s chipped finish giving the home crowd in Guangdong something to cheer. For Malaysia, the story of the night is familiar and frustrating: a slow start, a disallowed goal and a red card, and a 2-0 scoreline that did not change after the 19th minute.
Source: Xinhua; ASEAN Football Federation; New Straits Times; Football Association of Malaysia.
Credit : Xinhua
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