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While the Vietnamese club had only advanced to the semi-finals as the best group runner-up, PSM Makassar had been unbeaten in their six group matches and scored 17 goals. The latter were the obvious favorites despite playing away from home.
But at Binh Duong’s Go Dau Stadium, they failed to live up to the expectations and were mostly harmless and had no shot on goal in the first 45 minutes.
Binh Duong were in control, but not attacking or unpredictable enough to challenge their opponents’ defense.
Five minutes into the second half Nguyen Trung Tin collected a second yellow card for a dangerous challenge, and the hosts were down to 10 men. But PSM Makassar could not take advantage of Tin’s dismissal because of the lack of cooperation between their players. They kept raiding the Binh Duong goal, desperate to break the deadlock but leaving a gaping hole at the back.
The goal came in the 80th minute, when substitute Nguyen Tien Linh timed his run perfectly to head Le Tan Tai’s cross just inside the post.
The upset means Binh Duong will head to Pakansari Stadium next week with a one-goal advantage.
Also in the ASEAN Zone semi-final are V.League 1 champions Hanoi FC, who drew Ceres Negros 1 - 1 on Tuesday in the Philippines.
