Vietnam put up a slick performance in their return to action in the second round qualifiers of Group G of the 2022 FIFA World Cup when they crushed a young Indonesian side 4-0 early this morning at the Al-Maktoum Stadium in the UAE.
With more than 60% share of the possession, Vietnam were all over a determined Indonesian side as the latter held out for a scoreless first half.
But it took Vietnam just five minutes after the breather to take the lead when Nguyen Tien Linh fired in past two defenders to beat goalkeeper Nadeo Argawinata.
Nguyen Quang Hai then doubled Vietnam’s lead at the hour mark with a smooth grounder as Nguyen Cong Phuong then nailed the third just five minutes later.
A curling shot from Vu Van Thanh in the 73rd minute completed the rout for Vietnam as they stayed top of Group G.
In the meantime, Australia maintained their leadership of Group B with a 5-1 thrashing of Chinese Taipei which saw them picking up 18 points from six matches played.
Even with head coach Graham Arnold making eleven changes to the lineup, Australia were just too formidable as Harry Souttar, rose highest off a Riley McGree corner to nod home the first goal of the evening inside 11 minutes.
Jamie Maclaren then doubled Australia’s lead with a 26th minute penalty as captain Trent Sainsbury then headed home for the third goal with four minutes left of the first half.
Mitch Duke then made it 4-0 with less than 30 seconds into the second half before Gao Wei-Jie pulled a goal back for Chinese Taipei at the hour mark.
Australia then finished off a fine evening with Duke’s second when he latched onto a Nikita Rukavystya lay-off to tap home into an empty net.
SECOND ROUND QUALIFIERS, 2022 FIFA WORLD CUP
RESULTS
GROUP C: Iraq 4-1 Cambodia
GROUP G: Vietnam 4-0 Indonesia / UAE 3-1 Thailand
GROUP A: China 2-0 Philippines
GROUP D: Uzbekistan 5-0 Singapore
GROUP B: Australia 5-1 Chinese Taipei
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