Singapore 3
Myanmar 1

JAKARTA - ON A night the Lions turned into foxes, powering past Myanmar 3-1 with not only strength and skill but also a bit of cunning, the talking point was the violence that marred the game.

Myanmar goalkeeper Aung Aung Oo ran half the pitch to shove referee Phung Dinh Dung, and earned a red card.

The act of madness in their Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup match came after Singapore's third goal - the result of a quickly taken free kick.

Raddy Avramovic's men were protecting a 2-1 lead after goals from Noh Alam Shah (first minute) and Agu Casmir (16th) when Shi Jiayi was fouled in the 74th minute.

Alam Shah took the free kick quickly, even with Shi still on the ground. He picked out John Wilkinson and the left midfielder, after being denied by Aung's parry, cut the ball back for Casmir to tap in while Myanmar were still in disarray.

After Aung's enraged reaction, Myanmar officials marched onto the field, speaking to various players. The team refused to play for eight minutes.

Coach Marcos Antonio Falopa later denied responsibility for the walk-out, saying: 'It was a terrible mistake by my FA. They told the players to come off. My players lost control.'

But the Brazilian also had some scathing words for the referee.

'You go and watch the video yourself regarding the free-kick incident. Myanmar always seem to have a problem with this referee. He transformed the game,' he blasted. But he refused to elaborate on his team's previous brushes with Phung.

The Singapore camp, who have qualified for the semi-finals along with hosts Indonesia, believed they had played it fair and square.

'That is their problem,' Singapore coach Avramovic shot back. 'Alam Shah asked for a quick free kick and our opponents did not ask for time to form a wall.'

Casmir added: 'This is normal in football. When Alam Shah took the kick, my instinct was to move into a scoring position as the referee did not stop the play.'

While this was not a planned set-piece, Alam Shah revealed that the team were encouraged by their on-pitch awareness. The striker said: 'Raddy is always telling us to improvise.'

Singapore will play Indonesia, who beat Cambodia 4-0 yesterday, tomorrow to decide which team will top Group A.

However, the regional tournament is again making headlines for the wrong reasons. Thailand walked out of last year's final first leg against Singapore at Kallang after an 82nd-minute penalty was awarded against them.

Play was disrupted for 15 minutes.

On Saturday, Vietnam surrounded the referee and pushed the Thai players in Phuket after they, too, disputed a free-kick decision.

Both incidents went unpunished.

When queried, the AFF said it will await the match commissioner's report before deciding if Myanmar will be punished for their actions.

Malaysia were also crying foul yesterday, after a last-minute decision to move their final group match with Thailand on Wednesday from Phuket to Bangkok.

AFF executive secretary Datuk Yap Nyim Keong argued that the Group B match had to be moved to the Thai capital's Supachalasai Stadium as Phuket had no suitable venue to host the tie and the Laos-Vietnam clash simultaneously.

But Malaysia coach B. Sathianathan, who has been told to make the final or face the sack, attacked the decision, claiming it favours the Thais.

'Players are not animals. They need rest to recuperate and they can't do that by staying at the airport and waiting for the plane,' he told Bernama.

'Thailand can use their reserves when they play Laos tomorrow (Monday), while we have to play with our first XI against Vietnam and also Thailand to ensure smooth passage to the semi-finals.'

meng@sph.com.sg