Mangkualam keeps Indonesia hopes alive

Indonesia breathed new life into their AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Group D campaign after edging Vietnam 1-0 at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium on Friday, thanks to Asnawi Mangkualam’s first half penalty.
The victory took Indonesia to third in the standings, level on points with Japan ahead of their meeting on Wednesday, as the Garudas ended a six-match winless run against Southeast Asian rivals Vietnam, whose hopes suffered a body blow.
Both teams opted to make two changes each with Nguyen Quang Hai and Nguyen Van Tung coming in for Vietnam while Sandy Walsh and Egy Maulana Vikri were given a starting opportunity for Indonesia.
It was Indonesia who started stronger, Ivar Jenner putting Rafael Struick through inside the first minute but goalkeeper Nguyen Filip was equal to the shot then minutes later, Struick again with a shot on the turn that just went past the post.
Slowly but surely Vietnam’s midfield trio of Quang Hai, Nguyen Tuan Anh and Nguyen Thai Son began to see more of the ball and midway through the half, produced their first attempt on target through Pham Xuan Manh’s header but it was straight at custodian Ernando Ari.
Filip was alert to deny another Indonesian opportunity when Justin Hubner clipped a pass to the far post for Walsh to nod at goal, however, the custodian went down to his left to push the ball to safety.
Three minutes before the break, Indonesia took a deserved lead when captain Asnawi Mangkualam tucked away a spot-kick after Nguyen Thanh Binh was penalised for pulling Struick’s jersey.
Vietnam head coach Philippe Troussier made two changes at the start of the second half with Khuat Van Khang and Le Pham Thanh Long replacing Pham Tuan Hai and Thai Son respectively, and it almost paid dividends immediately.
Vietnam began to rain shots at Indonesia’s goal with Van Khang’s fierce shot from the left forcing Ernando into a good save, then Tuan Anh slid inside the box but hooked the ball just over the bar.
Play was stopped for almost five minutes at the 64th minute mark after Jordi Amat suffered a blow to the head following an aerial tussle with Van Tung, with the Indonesia captain eventually forced to be replaced by Rizky Ridho.
To their credit, Vietnam continued to push for the equaliser but luck wasn’t on their side and the UAE 2019 quarter-finalists even went down to 10 men in stoppage time after Thanh Long picked up his second yellow in the game. Indonesia need a result against Japan on Wednesday to stay in the knockout stage race while Vietnam will play for pride against already-qualified Iraq. (the-afc.com)