But it very nearly did not happen as irresponsible fans aimed laser beams at Indonesia goalkeeper Markus Rihihina and almost caused the game to be called off.
When the match resumed five minutes later though, Malaysia turned on the charm to rifle three goals past previously unbeaten Indonesia, which went some way to make up for the 5-1 mauling in Jakarta on Dec 1.
"I was optimistic before the match that we could get something to take to Jakarta and with Indonesia playing away for the first time, we wanted to see how they reacted under pressure," said Rajagobal.
"The same thing which happened to us in Jakarta, happened to Indonesia here. They made mistakes when we pressured them and after getting the first goal, the second and third goals also came.
"In the first half, we were too eager in front of goal and could not execute our chances. We were sloppy.
"Indonesia gained confidence and threatened on the flanks through Oktovianus (Maniani) and nearly scored but we kept their two strikers (Cristian Gonzales and Yongkry Ari Bowo) quiet.
"In the second half, I told the players we needed to be more aggressive if we were to score and have a chance in the second leg.
"We have done tremendously well to score three goals but it is not finished. We still have another 90 minutes to focus on."
Rajagobal and his counterpart Alfred Riedl both said the disruption to the game had little impact with the latter claiming that it was the first goal which unsettled his team.
"I have to talk to the players if the lasers affected them but I don't think so," said Riedl.
"It was the first goal which changed everything. We had a good first half. But when Malaysia scored, my defenders got confused. One mistake made the difference.
"We had good matches against the Philippines and the performance was fine. But today (yesterday), we were nowhere and were completely confused after the first goal.
"The techniques of the strikers were no good. We could not stabilise ourselves and let in the second and third goals."
By Ajitpal Singh and Devinder Singh
nstsport@nstp.com.my
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