Vietnam defeat Philippines 1-0 in FIFA ASEAN Cup opener

Vietnam secured a 1-0 victory over the Philippines in their FIFA ASEAN Cup opener on September 26 at Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung, Indonesia, with Nguyen Dinh Bac scoring the only goal in a hard-fought match.

Vietnam started on the front foot and enjoyed more possession in the opening minutes. The red-shirted side mainly relied on short passing to stretch the Philippines’ defence, but their opponents maintained a compact formation, limiting the pressure Vietnam could create in attack.

In the closely contested match, the Philippines suddenly created a dangerous chance when Randy Schneider unleashed a long-range effort. The ball beat goalkeeper Le Giang Patrik but struck the crossbar.

Vietnam then made the most of their chance to take the lead. From Le Pham Thanh Long’s through ball, Williams Minh Hoang delivered the ball into a favourable position for Dinh Bac to open the scoring. After going ahead, Vietnam dropped deeper, prioritising control of the space in front of their penalty area.

The closing stages were tense, with VAR influencing two key decisions. In the 77th minute, Philippines defender Jesper Nyholm was shown a red card after a collision with Ngo Dang Khoa, but the referee overturned the decision after reviewing the incident. Six minutes later, the Philippines appeared to have equalised when Kenji Nishioka fired home from close range. However, VAR determined that the Philippines forward was offside, and the goal was disallowed.

The win gives Vietnam an important boost ahead of their remaining Group B matches against Thailand on September 29 and Pakistan on October 2./.