Pakistan beat Malaysia 4-1, moves a step closer towards semis

New Delhi: Pakistan continued their winning streak in the Commonwealth Games, overwhelming Malaysia convincingly 4-1 in the men's hockey event at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Thursday.

Muhamad Imran (17th minute), Shakeel Abassi (39th), Rehan Butt (43rd) and Muhammad Waqas (65th) scored for Pakistan while Muhammad Amin (31st) was the lone goal-getter for Malaysia.

The 25th ranked Malaysians failed to reproduce their fighting spirit, which they had showed against India in their tournament last night, against a determined Pakistani forward line today, led by star player Abassi, who was instrumental in three out of the four goals.

Pakistan started the match at brisk note and created a number of chances in the opening few minutes, only to see an agile Malaysian goalkeeper Kumar Subramiam deny them the lead.

After a number of penetrations, Pakistan finally managed to surge ahead when Imran converted their first penalty corner.

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The only period of the match where Malaysians threatened the Pakistani goal was at the fag end of the opening half.

Down by a goal, Malaysia made numerous valiant attempts on the Pakistani goal and finally got the equaliser through a penalty corner four minutes from the break.

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After the change of ends, it was all Pakistan as their senior players, including start striker Butt produced excellent display of controlled hockey.

With this win, Pakistan has moved a step closer towards the semifinals as they led Pool A with six points.

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Malaysia, on the other hand, is on the verge of an early exit from the tournament after having lost their first two encounters.

"We played well and our energy label was very good," Pakistan's Dutch coach Michel van den Heuve said after the match.

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Pakistan skipper Zeeshan Ashraf said threat their next pool encounter against world champions Australia would be a tough affair.

"Australia is the number one team in the world. Against the Australians, we will try to play according to a strategy," Ashraf said.

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He also said that Pakistan would be eyeing to avenge their World Cup loss against India in the high-profile Pool A match on Sunday.

"It would be a good match. We lost against India in the World Cup, so we will definitely be eyeing a victory in that," the Pakistan captain added.