Double brace Makhbout and Fabio de Lima meant that Malaysia's hopes of restarting the qualification in positive fashion went up in smoke.
It was a tall order going into this World Cup 2022/Asian Cup 2023 qualifier against United Arab Emirates (UAE) and so it proved as Malaysia suffered their third loss in Group G after promising so much but at the end, delivered very little to suggest a different outcome to the rest of the campain.
A match which saw the home side in complete control at Zabeel Stadium does not augur well with matches against Vietnam and Thailand still to come.