Indonesia have booked their spot in the final of the 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup after one of the most dramatic matches in the history of the tournament.

Eight-man Singapore fought back from a goal down and two red cards in regulation time to send the contest to extra time before they were eventually overrun with Indonesia scoring twice in the additional half an hour to win 4-2 on the evening and 5-3 on aggregate.

Ezra Walian handed Indonesia an 11^th minute lead before Singapore saw Safuwan Baharudin sent off for a second yellow card and Song Ui-young grab his first international goal, both within first half stoppage time.  

Irfan then saw a straight red for a last-man challenge in the 67^th minute before a top drawer free kick from Shahdan Sulaiman put the Lions ahead seven minutes later.

Pratama Arhan then drew Indonesia level at 2-2 in the 87^th minute before he gave away a penalty that saw goalkeeper Nadeo Argawinata deny Faris Ramli from the spot with a brilliant, diving, save in stoppage time as the clash went to extra time.

Thirty seconds into that extra period an own goal from Shahwal Anuar put Indonesia 3-2 up before substitute Egy Maulana grabbed another from close range in the 107^th minute with the hosts ending the match with just eight men on the pitch – and striker Ikhsan Fandi in goal – after Hassan Sunny was sent off late on.

Indonesia coach Shin Tae-yong termed the Christmas-day win a clash in which his side went to ‘heaven and hell.’

“Both teams fought really hard and we were literally going from heaven to hell in the match.

“We are a relatively young side and when we had an advantage we need to learn how to play calmly so we must try to improve from here.”

With things finely poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, it took Indonesia just 11 minutes to go ahead on aggregate as Alfeandra Dewangga intercepted a Singapore pass, fed it to Witan Sulaeman who powered past Safuwan and squared for Walian to slide home from close range.

Outside of a couple of free kicks that firstly Alfeandra and then Ramai Rumakiek wasted there was little happening before the closing stages of the half were filled with drama.

That began with two moments that infuriated the hosts as firstly they were denied a penalty as Rachmat Irianto tussled with Amy Recha inside the box in the 41^st minute before Safuwan was shown a second yellow for apparently striking Rizky Ridho.

With the heat still simmering from the sending off, as tempers were raised on both benches, Singapore drew level.

The free-kick that was awarded prior to that flashpoint saw Shahdan Sulaiman drive a cross into the box with Song on hand to sweep home the bobbling ball in the third minute of stoppage time to send the teams to the break level at 1-1.

With that man advantage, Indonesia went looking for a killer blow as Rizky saw a volley from almost on top of the penalty spot smash off the bar after a corner before Singapore substitute Shahwal tried to ambitiously lob Nadeo from distance on the end of a long counter just after the hour.

With both teams making attacking changes, one of those, Indonesia’s Irfan Jaya, made an almost instant impact as he bore down on goal only for Irfan to impede his path.

That left the referee with little choice other than to show him a straight red with the Lions seeing their second central defender sent off and having to battle with just nine players for the final 23 minutes.

Lions substitute Faris then wasted a great opportunity on a long breakaway with the hosts having a three-on-one situation but led to the moment that saw them take the lead.

Shahdan lined up his free kick to the right of the Indonesia goal and bent home an effort of the highest quality into the top corner of the goal to spark pandemonium inside the National Stadium.

The veteran midfielder then almost, amazingly, repeated that feat from another free kick just two minutes later only for Nadeo to pull off a superb diving save.

With the home crowd creating an electric atmosphere as Singapore went looking for an historic victory, there was even more drama to come.

Indonesia managed to level things up as a shot from Witan was deflected into the path of an advanced Pratama who tucked home the rebound to make it 2-2 in the 87^th minute.

Things then swung back the way of the hosts as Pratama went from hero to villain as he was penalised for a high challenge on Shahwal only for Nadeo to pull off a superb save diving low to his left to deny Faris from the spot in the first minute of stoppage time.

Hassan Sunny was the latest to add to the drama as he too made a save of the highest quality to prevent Irfan from handing Indonesia a 93^rd minute winner as the match went to extra time.

Thirty seconds into the first period of that extra half an hour and Indonesia went ahead as substitute Egy drove into the box and sent in a cross that Sunny could only palm into the path of Shahwal whose attempted clearance bobbled into the goal to make it 3-2.

Sunny pulled off another incredible save to deny substitute Evan Dimas in the 96^th minute before repeating that with a low stop to keep out a close range effort from Irfan four minutes later.

In an exceptional showing, the veteran keeper then swatted away a powerful drive from Pratama although he couldn’t quite keep out a near-post prod from Egy that made it 4-2 to the Garuda in the final moment of the first period of extra time.

The final touch on an all-time classic saw the superb Singapore keeper Sunny sent off as he raced out of his box and brought down Irfan Jaya in the 119^th minute with the curious sight of Ikhsan Fandi donning the gloves for the final minutes bringing the curtain down on a match that will live long in the memory.

Defeated coach Tatsuma Yoshida was crestfallen post-match but said he was proud of his team and the fighting spirit that they showed.

“The result is all that matters, I have no excuses, no complaints.

“Today was such a good performance and I’m really proud of all of my players.

“I have no words but I was moved by their fighting spirit, their Singapore spirit where they didn’t give up even when we finally played with only eight players and this is what we must show to fans and young players.”