Bui Vi Hao (11) and his teammates encounter a tough early game against Malaysia, but ultimately came out on top. (Photo: VNA) A marvellous free kick from Khuat Van Khang and a confidentpenalty from Vo Hoang Minh Khoa were enough to grant Coach Hoang Anh Tuan'steam the necessary three points and the upper hand in the race for thequarterfinals.
Two changes were made by coach Tuan, with Nguyen Manh Hung andNguyen Van Truong replacing the suspended Nguyen Ngoc Thang and the injuredNguyen Dinh Bac.
Malaysia, needing a victory to keep qualification hopes alive,went all out in the opening minutes. Scotland-born striker Fergus Tierney hadthe first dangerous chance of the game, firing a shot that went centimetreswide.
Tierney's teammate, Mukhairi Ajmal had a similar chance, but thistime his effort was on target and forced a save from keeper-captain Quan VanChuan.
Vietnam slowly reclaimed their control, and Minh Khoa almostscored the opener for Vietnam in the 18th minute, but keeper Amin saved hispoint-blank header. Malaysia then retaliated with two attempts on goal, afterclumsy mistakes in the Vietnamese defence.
The breakthrough for the Golden Star Warriors came in the 37thminute, after Vo Nguyen Hoang had his shirt pulled by Ubaidullah nearMalaysia's six-yard box.
From around twenty metres, Van Khang fired a wonderful free kickinto the top corner with his left foot and opened the score for Vietnam. Fanson social media went wild and even made comparisons to goalsfrom Nguyen Quang Hai and Lionel Messi.
In the final minutes of the first half, Malaysia piled up thepressure, but Vietnam’s defence stayed strong and protected the one goal lead.
After the break, Tuan directed his team to slow down play andtighten up the defence. He subbed off two strikers in Nguyen Van Tung andNguyen Hoang, and brought on Bui Vi Hao and defender Nguyen Hong Phuc.
And just like the previous match against Kuwait, Tuan'ssubstitutions were splendidly on point. In the 58th minute, Vi Hao was broughtdown inside the penalty area after a menacing dribble, and Iranianreferee Mooud Bonyadifard pointed directly to the spot.
Minh Khoa, who had a goal disallowed in the last match, took thepenalty confidently and doubled Vietnam’s lead.
With nothing left to lose, Malaysia put all their men forward inthe final fifteen minutes. Their best effort came in the first minute of addedtime, with a vicious volley from Luqman Hakim, but Van Chuan pulled off aperfect save to deny the Malaysian winger. The match ended with a crucial 2-0victory for Vietnam.
"I am very happy to score a goal that helped my team take astep closer to qualification," said goal scorer Khuat Van Khang, "Youcan't be sure of anything in football, and we will look to take it one game ata time."
Việt Nam awaits the late match between Uzbekistan and Jordan; awin or draw for Uzbekistan would confirm Vietnam’s third consecutiveadvancement to the quarterfinals of the AFC U23 Asian Cup. Hoang AnhTuan's team will face Uzbekistan in the final match of Group D on April 23./.
VNA
