The home side’s goalkeeper Yapp Hung Fai was called into action in the 10th minute as Nam Dinh attacked down the right.

Percy Tau slipped the ball wide to Mahmoud Eid before receiving a return pass from the Palestine international, and the pair linked up again in the penalty area when Eid rolled possession back into the path of Tau, who hit a shot that was palmed to safety by Yapp. Brenner’s acrobatic attempt to convert the rebound flew high over the bar.

Yu Okubo’s flicked header flew across the face of goal for the hosts while Marcos Gondra tried to thread his shot past Caique Santos in the 30th minute, but his attempt could only trundle through to the Nam Dinh goalkeeper.

The visitors took the lead 10 minutes into the second half when their aggressive pressing paid off.

Yapp played the ball Leung Kwun Chung 25 yards from goal but the Eastern captain was pounced on by both Tau and Hansen, with the Norwegian midfielder stealing possession to quickly slide the ball beyond the goalkeeper’s dive to put his side in front.

Eastern’s efforts to level the scores were limited, with Lam Hin Ting and Okubo seeing their attempts blocked by the defence.

They went closest with eight minutes remaining when Manuel Bleda powered forward before releasing Gao Ming Ho into the penalty area and his first-time effort was blocked by Caique as he raced off his goal line.

Nam Dinh duo Eid and substitute Kyle Hudlin were denied by Yapp in the 85th minute and Hudlin hit the woodwork in injury time before clearing Wong Tze Ho’s corner off his own goal line moments later as the Vietnamese side took the points.