Indonesia 2-1 Vietnam: Home team took the lead after heated 90 minutes

A lot of fouls had been made, a lot of chances had been wasted. In the end, the team which made more mistakes lost the first leg – and it was Vietnam.

Indonesia and Vietnam kicked start the semi finals in Pakansari stadium. Both were reported to have problems with injuries and couldn’t present their best line-ups possible. Vietnam had to field a forward – Le Van Thang – in the central midfielder role.

Indonesia had a much better first half. After just 7 minutes, they bagged the opener. Hansamu Pranata headed in a chance from the first corner of the match.

But Indonesia couldn’t held to the lead as 10 minutes later, they conceded a penalty for handling the ball illegally inside the box. Nguyen Van Quyet stepped up and delivered a goal.

The later part of the first half saw a lot of fouls exchanged between the two team. Luckily for both only one yellow card was presented by the referee. It was for Nguyen Trong Hoang, who made a two-feet tackle towards Stefano Lilipaly. Indonesia wasted some half chances for the second goal.

But they didn’t have to wait too long to take the lead again. Five minutes into the second half, Indonesia was granted a penalty after Que Ngoc Hai’s foul in the penalty area. The Vietnamese defender misjudged the ball and then had no choice but tackled Ferdinand Sinaga illegally from behind.

Having had the lead again, Indonesia chose to stay low and absorbed the pressure. This lead to many chances for Vietnam but most of them weren’t dangerous enough. The best one was at 87th minutes for Dinh Thanh Trung, but he couldn’t conversed it into a goal.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Thang tried to get fresh legs into the attacking phase as he brought in young forwards like Van Toan or Cong Phuong. But nothing changed and the scoreline stayed 2-1 for the home team.

The second legs is going to be played in December 7 at My Dinh Stadium, Hanoi. For now, Indonesia is having the momentum.