ASEAN MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CUP™ 2024 – REPORT: VIETNAM 3-1 SINGAPORE

Nguyen Xuan Son, who sealed their 2-0 win in the first leg, emerged as the Golden Star Warriors’ standout star again as he bagged a double to send Vietnam through to the final for the second consecutive edition.

Kyoga Nakamura reduced the deficit for the Lions in the second half but Nguyen Tien Linh’s stoppage-time penalty meant that Vietnam emerged as 5-1 winners on aggregate and will face either defending champions Thailand or the Philippines in the title decider.

Singapore began the return leg strongly and Faris Ramli had the ball in the back of the net inside 10 minutes only for the goal to be ruled out for a tight offside following a VAR check.

Lionel Tan’s long throw into the box was headed on by Safuwan Baharudin towards Shawal Anuar who produced a good save out of Nguyen Dinh Trieu only for Faris to rise highest and head the ball home in the follow-up.

However, the goal did not stand, as Shawal was deemed to be just in front of Vietnam defender Vu Van Thanh when Safuwan glanced the ball towards the Singapore striker.

The home side too had a goal disallowed when a Chau Ngoc Quang header from a Nguyen Hai Long cross nestled in the net in the 21st minute, but the referee blew his whistle for the Vietnam attacker’s challenge on Nazrul Nazari before heading the ball.

Ngoc Quang went close again for Kim Sang-sik’s side in the 32nd minute as he was played through on goal by his captain Do Duy Manh but his fierce strike from a tight angle was stopped by Singapore goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud.

The breakthrough in the game came six minutes later as Hai Long’s free-kick from the left brushed the crossbar on its way out but the referee pointed to the spot after using the pitchside monitor to review Tan’s shirt pull on Xuan Son inside the box.

Xuan Son stepped up to take the penalty and sent Mahbud the wrong way to give Vietnam a 1-0 advantage on the night and a 3-0 lead on aggregate heading into the half-time interval.

The 27-year-old Vietnam striker then put the semi-final contest to bed in the 63rd minute with the fifth goal of his three-match-old international career, while also emerging as the top scorer of the 15th edition of the ASEAN Championship.

Nguyen Hoang Duc did well on the left-hand side to cross the ball into the area, but Safuwan could only direct his clearance towards his own goal. But the Singapore centre-back was spared the ignominy of scoring an own goal as Xuan Cross helped the ball across the line with an easy tap-in to make it 2-0.

Nakamura pulled one back for Tsutomu Ogura’s side in the 74th minute as he curled a left-foot strike from outside the box past Dinh Trieu, but that strike did not spark a Singapore comeback in Phu Tho.

Instead, it was Vietnam who increased their advantage in the second-half stoppage time as Amirul Adli brought down Nguyen Van Vi inside the box and substitute Tien Linh converted from 12 yards out to secure the 3-1 victory.

Vietnam will look to add to their 2008 and 2018 titles as they face the winners of the other semi-final between Thailand and the Philippines, with the Thais looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit in the return leg on Monday.