Striker Safee Sali’s brace saw Malaysia beat Vietnam 2-0 in the first leg of the ASEAN Football Championship AFF-Suzuki Cup semi-final on December 15

The loss meant defending champions Vietnam will face a hard task in the second leg match at Hanoi’s My Dinh National Stadium on December 18.

 

Although starting the game well in the first minutes, the Vietnamese side did little to trouble the well-organised Malaysian defence.

 

In the 15th minute, captain Minh Phuong launched a grass-skimming 25m rocket heading for the far corner, but Malaysian keeper Khairulner, but Malaysian keeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat made a good save.

 

The hosts replied five minutes later when Safee’s powerful header tested Vietnamese keeper Bui Tan Truong.

 

Midfielder Vu Phong closed the goalless first half time with a free kick in the 40th minute, which was pushed away by goalie Khairul.

 

After the break, Coach Henrique Calisto brought on midfielder Nguyen Minh Chau and striker Nguyen Viet Thang to try and force a goal. However, they failed to have much of an impact against Malaysia’s well-organised team.

 

Safee gave Malaysia the lead in the 61st minute as his well-taken free kick beat Vietnamese keeper Truong.

 

Midfielder Safiq Bin Rahim in a rapid attack fired a 25m shot from the right hand edge of the penalty area, but despite Truong comfortably getting a hand to ball, the Vietnamese contrived to palm it out to a borderline off-side Safee who doubled his goals for the night with a nicely placed shot through the despairing Vietnamese keeper.

 

Despite Vietnam attempting to rally for the last 10 minutes of the match, sloppy passing and a lack of urgency meant they created few chances of note.

 

Indonesia will host the Philippines in the other semi-final in Jakarta on December 16.

 

(VNA)