Vietnam national U23 national team has drawn 2 consecutive matches after showing their power to chase an equalizer with Korea Republic U23 national team with a score of 1-1 in the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2022 Group stage, Group C at the Lokomotiv Stadium, Tashkent.
Korea Republic could have taken the lead as early as the eighth minute when Vietnam’s Luong Duy Cuong was dispossessed in midfield, with Goh Young-jun pouncing on the loose ball before finding Park Jeong-in in the area, but the Busan IPARK forward could only force goalkeeper Quan Van Chuan into a parry.
It would be the first of several saves by the Hanoi FC custodian, as Korea Republic came close again through Jeong Sang-bin and Park Jae-hwan.
Vietnam, however, had moments of their own, with their best chance of the first half coming in the 32nd minute when Vu Tien Long lost his marker to collect Khuat Van Khang’s cross at the near post, only to see his strike rattle the side netting.
Korea Republic should have broken the deadlock three minutes from the break when Jeong surged into the area before pulling back to find an unmarked Eom Ji-sung, but the Gwangju FC midfielder’s tame shot was an easy save for Quan to make.
Head coach Hwang sent on Oh Se-hun and Cho Young-wook, who scored twice against Malaysia, after the break to further bolster Korea Republic’s attacking options, but it was Vietnam’s Phan Tuan Tai who had the first glimpse on goal in the second half, but just failed to keep his header on target.
The move to send on Cho, however, proved to be a masterstroke as the forward, combining with fellow substitute Hong Hyun-seok, finally broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute.
It all started with Kim Tae-hwan intercepting Phan’s pass, with Hong then waltzing past the Vietnamese defence before relaying the ball to Cho, who drilled his strike into the bottom left corner.
The tide, however, turned in Vietnam’s favour when Lee Jin-yong was given his marching orders after receiving his second yellow card for a foul on Nguyen Van Tung in the 78th minute.
Vietnam fully utilised their numerical advantage to press forward and they were rewarded five minutes later when Phan’s cross flashed across the face of goal to find Vu, who unleashed an unstoppable strike to make it 1-1.
Credit Photo : AFC
