V. League 1 champion Hanoi drew with Singapore champion Tampines Rovers 1-1 in an away match and achieved the goal of getting one point they had set themselves.
But they could well have got full points since they dominated possession and created many chances.
Three times their players had only the Singaporean goalkeeper, Syazwan Buhari, to beat, but Ganiyu Oseni, Nguyen Van Quyet and Pape Omar all failed.
Tampines Rovers too missed a chance when a header hit the post.
In the second half Hanoi finally found the opponent’s net after Buhari made a mistake off a Nguyen Quang Hai corner in the 62nd minute. All Omar had to do was slot the ball into the empty goal.
But 15 minutes later a moment of carelessness by the midfield cost them a goal. Tampines Rovers gained back possession and off a counterattack the speedy Jordan Webb ran down and easily beat goalkeeper Nguyen Van Cong to score.
Hanoi remain on top of their group with four points. Earlier they had beaten Cambodia’s Nagaworld 10-0 to set an AFC Cup record.
In the other game, Becamex Binh Duong FC made plenty of errors to lose 1-3 at home to Philippine club Ceres Negros. The culprits were all four defenders and goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong, who let striker Bienvenido Maranon score a hattrick.
In the first goal, Truong let Maranon take the ball right in his foot and easily score in the empty net. Wander Luiz scored their only goal.
With the loss, Binh Duong dropped to third place in their group with a single point from two games.
Hanoi next play Myanmar’s Yangon United FC and Binh Duong take on another Myanmar club, Shan United.