Bùi Hoàng Việt Anh (number 68) celebrates his goal which sealed CAHN's ticket in the inaugural final of the ASEAN Club Championship. He was later voted Man of the Match for his performance. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

Anh Đức

HÀ NỘI — On a special night in Hà Nội, Công An Hà Nội FC have completed a remarkable comeback, at home, pleasing everyone from loyal supporters to a top leader in the stands - winning 2-0 against Indonesia's PSM Makassar in the second leg of the semifinal of the 2025 ASEAN Club Championship.

General Secretary Tô Lâm was present to watch Việt Nam's last representative at the tournament punch their ticket to the inaugural final of the championship, with centre-backs Hugo Gomes and Bùi Hoàng Việt Anh getting their names on the scoresheet on the 50th anniversary of National Reunification.

Having left Makassar on a late first-leg defeat on April 2, coach Mano Polking's team needed to win by two or more goals to advance, while winning by just one goal would drag the match into extra time and penalties.

With that in mind, the Brazilian instructed his team to reach even higher, which led to multiple chances in the first half.

The most dangerous one came in the 19th minute, where Nguyễn Quang Hải sent a powerful volley outside the six-yard box towards keeper Reza Arya Pratama, who was forced to make a double save against both Hải and centre-forward Alan Grafite.

Grafite was also gifted with great passes from teammates that placed him in favourable positions, but in this match he seemed to lack the decisiveness or finesse to make it count, so the first half ended goalless.

What Polking said in the dressing room must have worked, giving Công An Hà Nội that all important boost, as the home team started the second period with a bang.

Just three minutes into the second half, a corner found Phan Văn Đức inside the box, who headed backwards for Gomes to fire home a vicious half-volley into the back of the net.

But a 1-0 lead was not enough for the team in red to advance. With momentum on their side, Polking's team kept on pushing forward and was rewarded with a second goal just minutes later.

During a sudden downpour at Hàng Đẫy Stadium, CAHN got another corner in the 60th minute, which found Jason Quang Vinh Pendant on the second ball, who crossed inside for Việt Anh to calmly control and fire a powerful shot into the bottom left corner of PSM Makassar's net.

VAR later intervened as Makassar's player protested, deeming that Việt Anh was offside, but it didn't stop the joy of the 14,800 people in the stadium.

But the match was far from over, as CAHN only maintained a slim one-goal lead. Fans were rattled and gasping as Nguyễn Filip pulled off an incredible point-blank save in the 71st minute to prevent the match from going into extra time.

The away side went all-out attack in the final minutes, but CAHN stayed strong to cement their place in the first-ever ASEAN Club Championship Final, as the sounds of 'Như có Bác Hồ trong ngày vui đại thắng' (As if Uncle Hồ was with us during the victory) were roaring through the stadium.

The Police Team will meet their opponent, one of the two Thai teams, Buriram United or BG Pathum United, in a two-legged final on May 14 and May 21. — VNS