Malaysia hold India, Marquez's side end year without victory

HYDERABAD: India's poor form continued and they ended the year without a win as the Fifa friendly against Malaysia ended in a 1-1 draw at the GMC Balayogi Stadium on Monday.
After the visitors took lead in the 19th minute, courtesy a goalkeeping blunder, Rahul Bheke's equaliser in the 39th minute salvaged some pride for the hosts.
India, under the guidance of Manolo Marquez, began in aggressive fashion, restricting the action to the Malaysian half for the most part. They pressed hard for the first goal without success. The visitors went ahead through forward Paulo Josue. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh, who came out of the box to head the ball out, missed it completely and Josue gleefully accepted the gift.

India found the equaliser in the 39th minute through defender Bheke, who headed a corner from Brandon Fernandes much to the delight of the home crowd that turned up in numbers.
After changeover, both teams played safe. Malaysia's Farzur Amir had a great solo run on the right, but he was thwarted by the Indian de fenders in the 83rd minute.
The hosts survived some anxious moments in injury time as the visitors nearly found the winner. Fergus Tierney's header from Muhammad Safwan Bin's pass hit the post. On the rebound, Safawi Bin Rasid's shot sailed over.
Coach Marquez called it a fair result. "We conceded an easy goal. We knew the game would not be easy. But in the end, the score is fair. We didn't adapt well today. We didn't play with pace in the second half," said Monolo, who gave chances to a lot of players who have been doing well for their respective clubs this season.
Malaysia's coach Pau Marti Vicente insisted that they were the better side. "I am satisfied with the result. Our players adjusted well. Our planning worked well. We had more chances than them but could not score. We expected them to come hard at us and they did in the first half," said Marti.