Vietnam ease past Malaysia for second AFF Cup win

The comfortable win was a reminder of how far ahead of some of their Southeast Asian Vietnam are, in stark contrast to the struggles of the World Cup campaign against the likes of Japan and Australia.

Coach Park Hang-seo made multiple changes to the Golden Star Warriors after the first match against Laos on December 6, bringing back captain Que Ngoc Hai as well as other new starters to the line-up. One surprising move, however, was dropping striker Nguyen Tien Linh, who was replaced by Nguyen Quang Hai.

The men in red dominated from the opening whistle and put Tan Cheng Hoe's side under pressure with high-intensity pressing. Malaysia's six-yard box was under constant bombardment with long balls over the top, and in the first minute, Cong Phuong was put through on goal but fluffed his lines.

Vietnam were in control but had to wait until the 32nd minute to open the scoring, a left-wing cutback from Nguyen Phong Hong Duy found Quang Hai, who buried the chance with aplomb.

The second came just three minutes later when a delicious Quang Hai backheel sent Cong Phuong away. The Hoang Anh Gia Lai man held his nerve to finish calmly off the post, effectively ending the match as a contest.

With a comfortable scoreline, Vietnam took their foot off the gas in the second half and looked to rest several key players.

Malaysia however, did not look any better in the second period and made their manager's injury woes even worse, with both starting center-backs taking a knock and forced to leave the field. Vietnam put the icing on the cake in the 89th minute with a precise shot from the edge of the box sneaking in the far corner courtesy of Nguyen Hoang Duc.

A 3-0 victory put Vietnam in the driving seat towards the semifinals with two games left. They face Indonesia on Wednesday and a victory would ensure Coach Park's men their fourth consecutive appearance in the playoffs.