Hanoi: Vietnam’s Công An Hà Nội FC booked their place in the final of the ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ after they defeated PSM Makassar 2-0 in the second leg of the semi-final at Hang Day Stadium on Wednesday.
After losing the first leg 1-0 at Gelora B.J. Habibie Stadium, Công An fought back with goals from Hugo Gomes and Bui Hoang Viet Anh in front of their supporters to set up a title showdown with either Buriram United or BG Pathum United.
After PSM captain Yuran Fernandes’ header in the first leg earlier this month gave the Indonesians a slender advantage, Công An knew they needed to win to stay alive in the competition.
And in front of a sizeable, noisy crowd in the Vietnamese capital city, the hosts were always on top in the return leg with their forward Alan Grafite testing Reza Arya with a powerful strike from inside the box as early as five minutes in.
Alan, who had a penalty saved by Reza in the first leg, was on the end of another chance after Le Van Do headed Jason Pendant’s ball into the box back across the goalmouth only for centre-back Fernandes to block the Brazilian’s effort in front of goal.
Reza came to the rescue of PSM again in the 19th minute as he stopped Nguyen Quang Hai’s first-time strike from a corner before Vitao fluffed his shot straight at the keeper from close range in the follow-up.
It was Công An who completely dominated the first half and Alexandre Polking’s side had attempted 14 shots before visitors PSM had their first in the 44th minute – a Daisuke Sakai shot which took a deflection and harmlessly went behind for a corner kick.
The Indonesian side’s resistance was finally broken three minutes into the second half as Quang Hai’s corner was flicked on towards the far post by Phan Van Duc for Gomes to turn home and level the last-four tie at 1-1 on aggregate.
Under pouring rain in Hanoi, the home side only needed 12 more minutes to score the vital winner when Pendant’s ball back into the area following a corner fell for Viet Anh, who slotted past Reza with his left foot to spark wild celebrations.
PSM’s first shot on target in the second leg came in the 71st minute and it needed intervention from Công An shot-stopper Filip Nguyen, who tipped over a powerful header from substitute Abdul Rahman to preserve his side’s 2-1 aggregate lead.
But with Bernardo Tavares' players failing to contribute much more in attack, Công An comfortably managed to hold on in the closing stages for a famous win and moved one step closer to the Shopee Cup™ title.
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