AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers – Group I: Vietnam edge gritty Chinese Taipei
Vietnam emerged from a challenging opening AFC U23 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2020 qualifying match with maximum points after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Chinese Taipei at Dolen Omurzakov Stadium on Wednesday.
The 2018 champions controlled much of the game, but it took until the 82nd minute for Le Van Xuan to provide the decisive goal, sending Park Hang-seo’s charges to the top of the three-team Group I after one Matchday.
Group favourites in the eyes of many, Vietnam looked the livelier of the two teams in the early minutes, and it was only the woodwork that prevented Tran Van Dat from opening the scoring after he latched onto Van Xuan’s cross in the ninth minute.
But rather than the first of many Vietnamese chances, that near miss proved to be a rarity in a first half of few clear-cut chances as Chinese Taipei captain Huang Tzu-ming marshalled his defence with authority.
The only other moment of genuine danger experienced by Chinese Taipei in the opening 45 minutes came when Liang Meng-hsin was forced to make a goal-line clearance after the scramble which followed Van Xuan’s free-kick from the flank as the half-time whistle arrived with the teams still deadlocked.
The pattern of Vietnamese possession and territory, but not goals, continued into the second half where it took until the 68th minute for substitute Nguyen Hai Long to force a save from Li Guan-pei, who parried well to keep out a dangerous 20-yard effort.
Vietnam were now launching wave after wave of attacks, but their chances of finding a goal appeared to be getting slimmer as the minutes ticked away, even if their opponents offered little attacking threat of their own.
But the breakthrough finally arrived eight minutes from time, with the energetic Hai Long finding the overlapping run of Van Xuan, who capped the best move of the match, and a standout individual display over the 90 minutes, with an unerring low finish which gave Li no chance.
Chinese Taipei suffered an additional blow when Cheng Chi-huan was shown a red card in the final minutes, meaning the defender will miss Saturday’s clash against Myanmar, which now looms as a must-win proposition if the East Asian side are to figure in next year’s finals.
After the match, VFF President Le Khanh Hai and Emerg. Meeting encouraged and awarded the team, 300 million VND.
