Malaysia outplay Japan 7-2 to stay atop league table

Hosts Malaysia posted their third successive victory in the Asian Champions Trophy when they 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, who have lost all their 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.