Vietnam 1-0 Nepal: Win but still worried

The victory over Nepal in the second leg of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers on the evening of October 14 helped coach Kim Sang Sik's team gain 3 more points but still behind Malaysia in Group F. However, the performance of Vietnam in this match was still not convincing.

The match at Thong Nhat Stadium started nearly 30 minutes later than scheduled due to heavy rain, but after the ball rolled with overwhelming strength, the Vietnam team still had the complete advantage. The pressure was created by coach Kim Sang Sik's team towards the Nepal team's goal. The biggest surprise in this match was probably the opening goal in the 6th minute when it was an own goal by a Nepal defender after a header by Hieu Minh.

Vietnam team (white shirt) had the advantage over Nepal team but could not convert the created opportunities into goals.

In the following minutes, the situation was similar to the first leg, when the Vietnamese team continuously attacked, creating many dangerous opportunities but could not convert them into goals. The Vietnamese players seemed to lack a bit of luck in the final touches from Tien Linh's shot to Thanh Nhan's shot, all hitting the crossbar or the post.

The pressure from the Vietnamese team was so great that at many times in the first half, the Nepal team almost only huddled in their home field to defend, goalkeeper Kiran Limbu and his teammates continued to have a tiring match.

The ability to take advantage of opportunities continues to be the point that coach Kim Sang Sik needs to help his students improve in the coming time.

In the second half, coach Kim Sang Sik sent Dinh Bac and Hai Long, then Gia Hung in to replace Thanh Nhan, Van Vi and Tien Linh to change the attack. The change in personnel by the Korean strategist helped the Vietnamese team's attacks become more varied, but the most expected goal did not come.

The deadlock of Vietnam's attack continued in the first half, Duc Chien had a face-to-face situation with Nepal's goalkeeper but he could not beat Kiran Limbu, while Dinh Bac's shot hit the post after a pass from Quang Vinh.

With a narrow win over Nepal, Vietnam continues to rank second in Group F.

While the attack was deadlocked, the defense of the Vietnam team still showed some mistakes, the most typical of which was the one that let the Nepalese striker freely enter the penalty area. Luckily for the Vietnam team, the opponent's player's shot was inaccurate when facing Trung Kien.

The match ended with a score of 1-0 for the Vietnam team. With this result, the Vietnam team has 9 points after 4 matches, behind the Malaysia team in Group F. Coach Kim Sang Sik and his team will have a rematch with the Malaysia team in March 2026.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/dt-viet-nam-1-0-dt-nepal-thang-nhung-van-lo-i784639/