LEBAK BULUS (9 Nov 2011) – The match really could have gone either way. And for a time, it would seem that Timor Leste were playing with enough confidence to win the full points.
But in the end, Timor paid dearly for their failure to inject discipline into their game where the loss of striker Ribeiro Murilo early in the match tilt the balance to Vietnam as they romped to a 2-0 win at the Lebak Bulus Stadium tonight.
At the start, Vietnam were surprisingly doing much of the defending as Timor pressed them with some clever moves initiated from the middle of the park by captain Jesse Pinto.
Two freekicks later, and Timor inched even closer to change the score line with the hardworking duo of Ribeiro Murilo and Alan Pinheiro manning the frontline.
However, incessant complain from Murilo did not exactly go down well with South Korean referee Kim Jong Hyeok where after picking up the first yellow card in the game in the 12th minute, Murilo’s shove on the face of Chu Ngoc Anh in the 24th minute gave the man in black little choice but to send him out of the game with a second yellow.
That was all that Vietnam needed as they became more and more brazen in going forward. Captain Pham Thanh Luong and Le Hoang Thien all had their fair share of looks at goal as Timor keeper Carlos Emerson stood firm.
The closest they came in the first half was a stiff grounder from Hoang Thien but the ball unfortunately took a deflection off Antonio Sousa for a futile corner.
The score at the end of the first half was 0-0.
Vietnam inched even closer after the break and in the 52nd minute, they finally broke the deadlock when off a pass from Au Van Hoan, the nippy Nguyen Troang Hoang had a double stab at goal before he was able to beat Emerson.
Seven minutes later, Thanh Luong had a golden chance but with only the keeper to beat, his shot went well over the crossbar.
In the 64th minute, Timor fell further behind when Van Hoan broke in from the right for a swerving shot which left Emerson no chance.
Timor tried gamely to at least find the solitary goal but to no avail as the Vietnam defence stood firm for their second win in three matches.
SEA GAMES 2011 RESULTS and FIXTURES
GROUP B
| DATE | MATCH | GROUP | KICK OFF | VENUE | ||
| 03.11.2011 | VIETNAM 3 | vs | PHILIPPINES 1 | B | 1600 hrs | GELORA BUNG KARNO |
| LAOS 2 | vs | MYANMAR 3 | 1900 hrs | |||
| 04.11.2011 | REST DAY | |||||
| 05.11.2011 | BRUNEI 1 | vs | TIMOR LESTE 2 | B | 1600 hrs | LEBAK BULUS |
| MYANMAR 0 | vs | VIETNAM 0 | 1900 hrs | |||
| 06.11.2011 | REST DAY | |||||
| 07.11.2011 | TIMOR LESTE 2 | vs | PHILIPPINES 1 | B | 1600 hrs | LEBAK BULUS |
| LAOS 2 | vs | BRUNEI 2 | 1900 hrs | |||
| 08.11.2011 | REST DAY | |||||
| 09.11.2011 | MYANMAR 4 | vs | BRUNEI 0 | B | 1600 hrs | LEBAK BULUS |
| VIETNAM 2 | vs | TIMOR LESTE 0 | 1900 hrs | |||
| 10.11.2011 | REST DAY | |||||
| 11.11.2011 | PHILIPPINES | vs | LAOS | B | 1600 hrs | LEBAK BULUS |
| 12.11.2011 | BRUNEI DARUSSALAM | vs | VIETNAM | B | 1600 hrs | |
| 13.11.2011 | PHILIPPINES | vs | MYANMAR | B | 1600 hrs | LEBAK BULUS |
| TIMOR LESTE | vs | LAOS | 1900 hrs | |||
| 14.11.2011 | REST DAY | |||||
| 15.11.2011 | MYANMAR | vs | TIMOR LESTE | B | 1600 hrs | LEBAK BULUS |
| PHILIPPINES | vs | BRUNEI DARUSSALAM | 1900 hrs | |||
| 16.11.2011 | REST DAY | |||||
| 17.11.2011 | LAOS | vs | VIETNAM | B | 1600 hrs | LEBAK BULUS |
