HCMC FC and Than Quảng Ninh have finished 3 games in the first leg of AFC Cup 2020 group stage. So what is the ranking of the two Vietnamese football club?

As planned, HCMC would play the last game of the first leg home. However, Laos Toyota had proposed and were accepted by AFC to reverse the fixture on the occasion of Bunpimay holiday (Laos lunar new year). Specifically, the game would take place at Laos national stadium on March 10th. Noticeably, as Covid-19 disease is happening complicatedly, the match will be closed-doors to audiences, while the second leg will be hosted at Thống Nhất stadium on April 15th.

Therefore, right after the match against Quảng Nam FC in the first round of LS V-League 2020 ended, coach Chung Hae Seong and his players had to move with average time for their journey of up to 10 hours as there was no direct flight route from Tam Kỳ to Vientian. Beside that, their force was broken with injured Huy Toàn, Văn Thuận, Thanh Bình, etc and they could just use 2 over 4 foreign players.

Thus, although facing the team said to be weakest in the group, HCMC FC got a lot of difficulties. In the match, Amido Balde had a very ungain handling when had the ball just few meters from the goal. In a situation when shooting out was more difficult than scoring, he missed the chance so regretfully, leading to a 0-0 draw after the first half.t

In the second half, the substitute of this forward shined by a double, through which  bringing the players in red a 2-0 win. In the earlier match, Yangon United (Myanmar) defeated Hougang United (Singapore) 1-0.  These results helped HCMC FC maintain their first position in the group with higher sub-indicators despite of having 7 points like Yangon United. Behind them are Hougang Uniteled (3 points) and Laos Toyota at the bottom with zero point.

Meanwhile, another representatives of Vietnam, Than Quảng Ninh, also had a victory. The players coached by Phan Thanh Hùng defeated Svay Rieng (Cambodia) right at away stadium with the score 4-1th through goals of Hải Huy, Neven Lastro, Jeremie Lynch and Nhật Minh. In the remaining match of the group, Ceres Negros (Philippines) beat Bali United (Indonesia) 4-0. After 3 rounds, Ceres Negros ranked top with complete 9 points, after them are Than Quảng Ninh with 4 points, Svay Rieng and Bali United with 3 points.

As regulated, just 4 teams of the 3 groups of Southeast Asia are qualified for the next tie, including 3 leading teams together with the second-ranked team with the best achievements. So, after the first leg, HCMC FC have much possibility to go further, while Than Quảng Ninh continue to face with difficulties because they are now the second-ranked team with lowest points (Yangon United (Group G, 7 points), Kaya FC-ILOILO (Group H, 5 points)). But 2 representatives of Vietnam have a little advantage to be qualified for the next tie as they will play home in all 3 games of the second leg.

Source – Thethaohcm.vn