Palestine rout M'sia 6-0 after goal feast at National Stadium

War-torn Palestine enjoyed a goal feast at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil by whipping Malaysia 6-0 in a 2018 Russia World Cup and 2019 UAE Asian Cup Group A match, here Tuesday.

Coach Dollah Salleh's strategy failed against a battle-hardened Palestine side who dominated the match right from the start.

Though Palestine coach AbdelNasser Barakat had lined a majority of youngsters in his team, Malaysia's seasoned campaigners were no match to the speed, agility and skill of the Palestinians.

Palestine turned its dominance into goals as early as the 8th minute through superb strike by Musab Battat from outside the box before Sameh Maraaba made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute while Tameer Seyam made it 3-0 before halftime after dribbling past three players to score in the 41st minute.

Malaysia had a number of scoring opportunities in the first half through Amri Yahya and Muhammad Afiq but both failed to make it count.

The best opportunity probably fell to skipper Safiq Rahim whose free kick from inside the box in the 60th minute whizzed past the left upright.

But while the Malaysian boys were missing their chances, Palestine scored their fourth goal against the run of play in the 63rd minute through Khader Abuhammad before Sameh added his second of the night in the 74th minute.

If the fans had thought that 5-0 was going to be the final score, they were in for a rude shock when Seyam added his second goal of the night in the 85th minute to make it 6-0 and complete the embarrassment for Dollah and his boys.

Malaysia will face United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sept 3.