PETALING JAYA: Malaysia kept their hopes of making it to the AFC U-23 Asian Cup football competition alive after they thrashed Mongolia 7-0 in their second group match at the Thammasat Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.

The Harimau Muda made up for their 0-1 loss to Lebanon in the opening qualifying match on Wednesday by striking early, thanks to Aliff Izwan Yuslan after just 13 minutes.

Two minutes later, Ahmad Aysar Hadi doubled the lead for Malaysia to put them in a comfortable position.

The star of the night was naturalised player Fergus Tierney, who scored a hattrick to give his side a sizeable advantage.

The 22-year-old made it 3-0 in the 36th minute and after the breather, added two more in quick succession in the 48th and 49th minutes.

The goal frenzy didn’t stop there as Aliff scored his second in the 59th minute, before Ziad El-Basheer Norhisham fired home the seventh in the 68th minute.

Head coach Nafuzi Zain was relieved with the win and was proud that his players bounced back after their loss to Lebanon.

“We managed to get the valuable three points, and I’m proud of the players for rising again after losing to Lebanon.

“Winning 7-0 is a big result and important for us to keep our qualifying hopes alive,” said Nafuzi after the match.

The win kept Malaysia in the running to qualify for the U-23 Asian Cup next year.

Nafuzi’s boys will take on hosts Thailand in their final group stage match on Tuesday.