Football

Caio Cesar (No 77) celebrates his goal for Nam Định in the club's 3-2 win over Tampines Rovers at the AFC Champions League Two on November 6 at the Thiên Trường Stadium, Nam Định Province. Photo of Thép Xanh Nam Đinh FC

NAM ĐỊNH — Coach Vũ Hồng Việt praised his players' 'never-give-up' spirit as Thép Xanh Nam Định came from behind to win 3-2 against Tampines Rovers at the AFC Champions League Two on November 6 at the Thiên Trường Stadium, Nam Định Province.

"This win is very emotional. I'm very happy that players tried their best and that we didn't give up and this result is well deserved," said Việt at the post-match press conference.

"We played well, but there were mistakes leading to two conceded goals. But we played strongly and fought back to win."

Tampines were the first to threaten with Seia Kunori, Shuya Yamashita and Kyoga Nakamura producing attempts in the early minutes as the game showed signs of mirroring the thrilling 3-3 draw from their fixture two weeks ago.

Nam Định, however, gradually started to show their attacking intent and would have gone ahead in the 19th minute if not for Yamashita clearing the ball on the line to deny Lý Công Hoàng Anh, with Lucas Silva’s follow-up stopped by goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari.

Like the previous match at the Jalan Besar Stadium, it was Tampines who opened the score when Amirul Adli powered home a header from a Joel Chew corner kick delivery in the 38th minute.

The home side tried to pull level before the break, working the ball from the right to left in the 45th minute to set up Lucas Silva with a shooting chance, but the Brazilian opted to find Hendrio instead, allowing Tampines the chance to clear the ball.

Tampines began the second half with a bang as they doubled their lead within three minutes, with Shah Shahiran picking out Kunori at the far post and the Japanese forward somehow managing to squeeze his shot in from an acute angle.

Nam Định refused to back down and forced their way back into the game in the 57th minute when Hoàng Anh’s cross to edge of the box was chested down by Caio Cesar, before the midfielder smashed his shot past Buhari to breathe confidence back into the Vietnamese side.

With ten minutes left on the clock, Nam Định found the equaliser, their persistent pressure paying off when Nguyễn Văn Vĩ made a brilliant run on the left before crossing to to Joseph Mpande to tap in.

The comeback was completed in the sixth minute of added time when defender Lucas Araujo smashed home from the centre of the box to claim all three points for Nam Định.

"With this win, it is 90 per cent sure that Nam Định would qualify for the next stage. However we still need to totally focus for the next game," said Việt who hoped that his key striker Nguyễn Xuân Son will be back in the line up.

The Vietnamese side now have eight points, four clear of their Singaporean opponents, with Thailand’s Bangkok United FC leading the group on 10 points.

Two goals from Richairo Zivkovic and strikes from Wanchai Jarunongkran and Muhsen Al Ghassani saw Bangkok United complete a second-half comeback to win 4-1 over Hong Kong's Lee Man in the other Group G match in Pathum Thani. VNS