(VOVWORLD) - Vietnam entered the finals of the ASEAN Federation Football (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2018 after defeating the Philippines 2-1 in the return leg of the semifinal, which took place at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium on December 6.
 Nguyen Quang Hai (Number 19) opened the scoring for Vietnam at the 83rd minute (Photo: VNA) |
The squad beat the Philippines 2-1 in the first leg held in Bacolod city of the Philippines four days ago.
The teams battled a stalemate in the first half of the second leg, as various chances were missed.
A free kick was awarded for Vietnam four minutes after the whistle, but Luong Xuan Truong (Number 6) could not take the ball through the fence.
Nguyen Quang Hai (Number 19) bagged two chances to score at the 17th and 28th minute, but he did not succeed.
Two minutes were added to the first half then it ended goalless.
Quang Hai broke the deadlock at the 83rd minute with a tap-in from a left-wing pass of Phan Van Duc (Number 20), bringing joy to the sea of home fans.
Coming from the bench, Nguyen Cong Phuong (Number 14) weaved through the Philippines’ defence and blasted the ball towards the roof just four minutes later, extending the 2-0 lead.
 Vietnamese fans cheer the victory of the Vietnamese squad at teh AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 |
At the 89th minute, James Younghusband scored to shorten the gap for the Philippine side.
With this result, Vietnam entered the finals with aggregate score of 4-2.
Malaysia become the first finalists of the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup after a 2-2 nail-biting draw with the defending champion Thailand in the second leg of the semi-final in Bangkok on December 5.
The final first leg between Vietnam and Malaysia is scheduled to take place on December 11, and the return leg will be held four days later.
The AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 is taking place from November 8 to December 15 with 26 matches among 10 teams.