Vietnam team won a dramatic victory over host Singapore

The semi-final match took place on the evening of December 26, at Jalan Besar Stadium (Singapore).

Singapore beat Malaysia, Cambodia and Timor Leste to finish second in Group A, thereby winning the second ticket to the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese team had 4 unbeaten matches in the group stage, with 3 wins and 1 draw. This result brought coach Kim Sang-sik's team to the Semi-finals as the top team in Group B.

Before the semi-final, experts said that Singapore could hardly compete with the Vietnamese team in terms of expertise at this time. Therefore, victory was the goal that the Golden Star Warriors set.

However, in the first half, the home team caused quite a surprise when they took the initiative to control the game. Singapore used long passes to approach Dinh Trieu's goal.

In contrast, the Vietnamese team used a defensive counter-attacking style to suppress their opponents. However, coach Kim Sang-sik's team had more opportunities than Singapore in the first 45 minutes.

Notably, in the 25th minute, Thanh Binh stole the ball on the left side of the penalty area, then crossed it low but the ball bounced up, causing Xuan Son to miss his first-touch shot.

Not stopping there, in the 37th minute, Quang Hai made a technical pass in the middle to Xuan Son. The naturalized striker broke through bravely, but shot wide when facing goalkeeper Mahbud.

In the second half, the game was not much different from the first. Singapore still controlled the ball slightly better than the visitors. However, the number of opportunities was overwhelmingly in favor of coach Kim Sang-sik's players.

Notably, in the 77th minute, it seemed like the goal had come to the Vietnamese team before Tien Linh's long-range shot. Realizing that the Singapore goalkeeper was high up, Tien Linh took a shot from the midfield line and the ball flew just wide of the goal.

Before that, Singapore also had a good chance, when Tan Tai's clearance was not good, opening up an opportunity for Taufik to launch a high shot towards the goal, but with a great jump, goalkeeper Dinh Trieu was able to touch the ball with 5 fingertips to push it over the crossbar.

The drama of the match was heightened in the final minutes. First, Xuan Son's shot that hit the Singapore net was disallowed by the referee, as it was believed that the striker wearing the number 12 shirt had touched the ball with his hand before putting it into the goal.

However, fans did not have to regret for too long because in the 95th minute, Tien Linh helped Vietnam take the lead. From Tien Linh's cross into the penalty area, the Singapore goalkeeper and defender did not coordinate well, letting the ball fall out. Xuan Son rushed in to fight fiercely, forcing the home defender to use his hand to block the ball. The referee immediately blew the whistle for a penalty and he did not change his decision after consulting VAR.

On the 11m mark, Tien Linh easily defeated the Singapore goalkeeper to open the score for the Vietnamese team.

Not stopping there, in the 101st minute, the Vietnamese team doubled the gap. From a corner kick taken by Hoang Duc, Xuan Son chose a suitable position to tap the ball into the Singapore net.

The score of 2-0 in favor of Vietnam was also the final result of this semi-final match.

With the victory, the Vietnamese team has a big advantage before entering the second leg match taking place on November 29 at Viet Tri Stadium - Phu Tho.

Duc Anh