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HANOI : Thailand beat Vietnam 2-0 in the first leg of their Asean Football Championship semi-final on Wednesday.
A capacity home crowd of 40,000 had their hopes crushed at the My Dinh stadium in Hanoi as Vietnam conceded a free kick by Datsakorn Thonglao in the 28th minute and a strike from Pipat Thonkanya nine minutes from full time.
Vietnam wasted a series of early chances in a hectic first half before Datsakorn curled a stunning free kick over the wall and past Vietnamese goalkeeper Bui Quang Huy.
The home side missed a major opportunity to level the score when Phan Thanh Binh fired a penalty wide on the stroke of half time.
Thailand, three times previous winners of the competition, soaked up continual pressure from Vietnam from the start of the second half.
With Vietnam pressing forward in the search for an equaliser, Thailand eventually caught them on the counter-attack when substitute Pipat struck the ball low past Quang Huy from inside the penalty box to secure victory.
The second leg of the second semi-final takes place on January 28 at the Supachalasai stadium in Bangkok.
In the first leg of the other semi-final, Malaysia drew 1-1 with defending
champions Singapore on Tuesday. The two legs of the final will be held on January 31 and February 4.
Thailand and Singapore are favourites to reach the finals, with Thailand tipped to lift the trophy, formerly known as the Tiger Cup. - AFP/de
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