Nguyễn Xuân Son’s stunning diving header and a late own goal by Faris Danish earned defending champions Vietnam a 2-0 win over Malaysia in the first leg of the ASEAN Hyundai Cup™ 2026 semi-final in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
Xuân Son pounced five minutes into first-half stoppage time to give the three-times winners the lead while Faris steered the ball past Azri Ghani with four minutes remaining to put Vietnam in control ahead of the second leg, which will be played in Hanoi on Wednesday.
The two-goal deficit was undeserved for the Malaysians, with Faris denied by an acrobatic stop from Lê Giang Patrik in the dying seconds.
Both sides struggled to make an early impact, with Pavithran Gunalan’s ambitious long-range attempt to catch out Patrik unsuccessful while Paulo Josué’s sliced cross from the right barely threatened the Vietnam goal.
It was Pavithran’s pace that caused panic in the Vietnamese defence in the 28th minute when he picked up possession inside his own half and drove towards goal, only for Patrik and defender Bùi Hoàng Việt Anh to intervene to deny the winger.
Seven minutes later Malaysia should have taken the lead. Faris burst into space on the left flank to deliver a low cross into the feet of Josué, whose shot was blocked at point-blank range by Patrik with Daryl Sham wastefully blasting the rebound over the bar.
As the half drew to a close, however, Vietnam started to assert themselves. Xuân Son sent his instinctive scissor-kick wide before Nguyễn Đình Bắc’s low shot from the edge of the area was gathered by Azri at the second attempt.
And, with barely seconds remaining in stoppage time, Kim Sang-sik’s side went in front in decisive fashion.
Lê Phạm Thành Long’s searching pass from central midfield found Trương Tiến Anh on the right, whose sublime first touch brought the ball under control before delivering a cross that Xuân Son directed beyond Azri with a glorious header while at full stretch for his third goal in the tournament.
Xuân Son was denied a second moments after the restart when his shot was blocked on the goal line while Vietnam were given a scare on the hour mark when referee Rustam Lutfullin showed Patrik the red card following a challenge outside the area on Mohamadou Sumareh.
The referee from Uzbekistan was called to the pitch-side monitor, however, and on review the decision was overturned, to the relief of the visitors.
Nguyễn Quang Hải, who had been left out of the starting line-up, lashed his late attempt high over the bar but, with four minutes remaining, the unfortunate Faris redirected the ball beyond Azri to double Vietnam’s lead and leave his side with a challenging task in Hanoi.
Hyundai Player of the Match - Nguyễn Xuân Son (#12), Vietnam
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