Viettel FC suffer fourth defeat at AFC Champions League

The Hanoi-based club entered the game without three key players in the defense. They also put three other important players on the bench and gave the chance for young players, since the club have already been out of AFC after the previous 1-3 defeat against Thai club BG Pathum United.

Viettel were able to hold off Ulsan in the first half with a low-block formation that mainly focused on defending. Their attackers were rarely seen on the opponent’s side of the field.

Ulsan dominated in possession and pushed their formation higher but couldn’t find a goal in the first 45 minutes. However, only three minutes into the second half, Ulsan opened the score sheet with a solo effort from Valeri Qazaishvili. The Georgian midfielder dribbled past three Viettel defenders with ease, before finishing it cleanly into the net.

The second goal came six minutes later with a header goal by Austrian forward Lukas Hinterseer. Viettel put three key players on the field, but that didn’t make any difference on the offense.

With two goals, Ulsan slowed down and wrapped it up in the 86th minute with the third goal, scored by Oh Se-hun.

This is Viettel’s third consecutive loss in ACL, after losing two games to Pathum. They lost 0-1 to Ulsan in the first game due to an own goal.

In the final game of the group stage on July 11, Viettel will play Kaya-Iloilo FC again. The Filipino club lost 0-5 to Viettel in the first leg.