Vietnam Beat Malaysia 2-0 in ASEAN Semi-Final First Leg
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- Vietnam defeated Malaysia 2-0 in the first leg of their ASEAN Championship semi-final at Kuala Lumpur on Sunday (Aug 16), giving the defending champions a comfortable cushion ahead of Wednesday's return leg in Hanoi.
- Nguyen Xuan Son (Rafaelson), a Brazilian-born striker, opened the scoring with a diving header five minutes into first-half stoppage time after Vietnam absorbed early pressure from Tan Cheng Hoe's Malaysia side.
- Patrik Le Giang received a reprieve on the hour mark when referee Rustam Lutfullin rescinded an initial red card for handling the ball outside the area following a pitch-side monitor review.
- Faris Danish steered the ball past his own goalkeeper Azri Ghani with six minutes remaining to double Vietnam's lead, and nearly made amends in the dying seconds only for Le Giang to acrobatically tip his effort over the bar.
- Vietnam will face either Thailand or Singapore in the final; Thailand lead their semi-final 3-1 after the first leg, with the return in Bangkok on Tuesday.
- The final is scheduled as a home-and-away tie on Aug 22 and 26.
Why it matters: Vietnam's two-goal cushion and a favorable second leg in Hanoi make the defending champions strong favorites to reach a final against likely opponents Thailand, who already lead Singapore 3-1. Malaysia now need to overturn a 2-0 deficit on hostile ground to keep their ASEAN Championship hopes alive.
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