Hanoi FC of Vietnam continued to ride high in the group stage of the 2019 AFC Cup, Asia’s secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), with a deserved 5-1 win over Cambodia’s Naga World on Wednesday.
Although the Vietnamese top-tier’s reigning championship appeared to carry the momentum of their last 5-2 victory against Myanmar’s Yangon United to the game on the Cambodian home turf yesterday, they needed 35 minutes to find the lead.
After several wasted efforts, it was until the 35th minute that the visitors struck with a nice passing move involving Pape Omar Faye and Moses Oloya before the former finished off, opening the Vietnamese’s score.
The Vietnamese representatives doubled their lead before half time with Nguyen Quang Hai’s assist for Ganiyu Oseni to score from close range in the 42nd minute.
Coming back from the break, Naga World stole a costly moment in the 63rd minute to secure their only goal by Nhim Sovannara.
Hanoi FC restored their two-goal advantage just seven minutes later when Tran Van Kien fired home a rocket that gave Naga World’s goalkeeper Sou Yaty little chance to react.
The Vietnamese side put the match well and truly beyond doubt in the 86th minute when Hoang Vu Samson made it 4-1, while a second goal for Oseni in stoppage time rounded out the deserved 5-1 triumph, prolonging their back-to-back winning streak.
Wednesday’s victory temporarily put Hanoi FC on the top of Group F, which was then reclaimed by Singapore’s Tampines Rovers with a 4-3 win over Myanmar’s Yangon United FC later the same day.
The Vietnamese club now must win their match against Tampines Rovers, their direct rivals for group leaders’ title, in two weeks to progress to the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals.
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