SINGAPORE - Singapore held Hong Kong to a 1-1 draw in an international football friendly on Thursday (Aug 31) evening at Jalan Besar Stadium.

It took the 146th-ranked visitors just one minute to find the net when a shot from distance rebounded off the bar and captain Chan Siu Ki was left unmarked to tap home.

Singapore, ranked No. 171, created chances too but were unable to find the finishing touch. A minute before half-time, left winger Faris Ramli played Nazrul Nazari clean through but the right winger's shot was saved by goalkeeper Wan Zhenpeng.

In the 50th minute, Safuwan Baharudin, playing as a forward, curled a free kick only to be denied by a flying save from Wan. And nine minutes later, Hariss Harun picked out the run of Faris but the winger shot tamely with only the custodian to beat.

The breakthrough for the hosts finally arrived in the 76th minute when Safuwan Baharudin released Shakir Hamzah and the left-back was hacked inside the box. From the resultant penalty, Safuwan blasted the ball hard under the body of Wan to equalise.

However, the Lions suffered a setback with four minutes left on the clock when Emmeric Ong lost the ball inside his own half and committed a professional foul on forward Manoel Dos Santos, which gave Thai referee Pummarin Khamruen no choice but to send off the right-back on his international debut.

Singapore will host Turkmenistan at Jalan Besar next Tuesday (Sept 5) in a 2019 Asian Cup qualifier.