Tan Cheng Hoe's Malaysia finished its recent series of international matches on a seemingly positive note, recording a slim 1-0 friendly defeat to Jordan at home, before edging Indonesia 3-2 away and losing 2-1 at home to UAE in their Group G of the World Cup Asian qualification matches.
The UAE match on Tuesday in particular perhaps allowed the fans to feel good about Malaysia's chances in the campaign, as for half of the match Cheng Hoe's charges dictated proceedings, after scoring the opening goal only thirty seconds into the match.
In the matchday two encounter, Malaysia ultimately failed to come away with at least one point against the favourites for two reasons; their inability to put away the numerous chances had in the first half when the visitors were still struggling to settle down, as well as their defensive porousness.