Needing a win to secure first place, Vietnam wasted little time against Myanmar at My Dinh, breaking the deadlock just eight minutes in. Captain Do Hung Dung picked out Doan Van Hau with a long-range switch. He then played a first-time pass to star man Nguyen Van Quyet, who whipped in a low cross which was turned into his own net by the hapless Kyaw Zin Lwin under pressure from Pham Tuan Hai.
Against the odds, however, Myanmar nearly got back in it. A mix up between Do Duy Manh and goalkeeper Dang Van Lam saw Lin Htet Soe gifted a near open goal 50 yards out, but his effort bounced agonisingly wide of the post- a huge let off for Vietnam custodian Van Lam.
Midway through the first half, the Golden Stars had their second. Myanmar goalkeeper Tun Nanda Oo flapped at a Van Hau cross from the left, and the ball fell kindly at the feet of Tien Linh, who needed no second invitation to slide home his third goal of the tournament.
It was business as usual in the second half, as Van Hau’s rasping effort forced was clawed away by Tun Nanda Oo in the 55th minute, before Vietnam grabbed their third to put the game to bed with a quarter of an hour to go.
Nguyen Hoang Duc played in Ngoc Quang who, having been left in acres of space by the Myanmar backline, whipped a shot beyond the goalkeeper and in from 25 yards, in what was his first international goal.
Next matches
Vietnam will head to Jakarta tomorrow as they prepare to take on Indonesia in the first leg of the semi-final on Friday before returning to Hanoi for the second leg on January 9.
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