AFC Women's Champions League
Late goals from Tran Nguyen Bao Chau and Thua K’ confirmed Ho Chi Minh City’s place in the knockout stage, with their clash with Melbourne City FC on Wednesday to decide the winners.
#AWCL | Group A: Lion City Sailors FC (SGP) 0-2 Ho Chi Minh City Women’s FC (VIE)
Ho Chi Minh City endured a frustrating first half against a Lion City Sailors side who stood firm to repel waves of attacks from the Vietnamese side.
But the momentum shifted in Ho Chi Minh City’s favour when Sailors’ Nur Ain Salleh was substituted off in the 83rd minute following an injury, allowing the Vietnamese side to capitalise through Tran Nguyen Bao Chau’s looping strike over Izairida Shakira.
Thua K’ sealed the win in stoppage time after powering past her marker before lobbing past Shakira.
“I want to extend my admiration to the Lion City Sailors for their mentality and fighting spirit, which I had anticipated before the match,” said Nguyen. “From our experience, we knew Sailors would momentarily lose focus after their player was injured and that was why I instructed our players to apply pressure from the restart – and the goal came.
“We were fortunate at that moment. But before that, I actually thought we were quite unlucky with the situation where we ended up hitting the side netting and the posts.
“In the end, we earned three points today and I’m very pleased with that. We carried the spirit and slogan of the club – solidarity, determination and never giving up.”
#AWCL | Group A: Stallion Laguna FC (PHI) 0-7 Melbourne City FC (AUS)
Ho Chi Minh City’s win also meant progression for Melbourne City - who defeated Stallion Laguna of the Philippines 7-0 earlier on Sunday - with four first half strikes effectively ending the tie as a contest.
Head coach Michael Matricciani believes Stallion Laguna’s desire to attack opened up space for the Australian side to play and now the 2024/25 runners-up want to complete their group stage campaign in perfection.
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“Against Lion City, they sat deep in a mid to low block which always makes it difficult but Laguna pushed quite high up - almost player to player - and that offered us more space to attack and we did really well,” said Matricciani.
“It’s nice to have to win and we want to win again. We want to top the group and we’re looking forward to it (playing Ho Chi Minh City).
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