PETALING JAYA: Sabah surrendered their unbeaten run in the group stage of the AFC Cup after they went down 2-3 to Hai Phong in a Group H match at the Lach Tray Stadium last night.
Hai Phong were looking to bounce back after their 1-2 defeat to Singapore’s Hougang United previously and the Vietnamese side started with purpose as they kept Sabah on the backfoot.
Their early aggression paid off in the 14th minute when Nguyen Huu Son’s shot from a distance ended in the back of the net.
Dam Tien Dung doubled their advantage four minutes later with his left-foot shot from outside the box sailing into the bottom right corner.
Sabah attempted to find a way back but had to wait till the 71st minute for their opener with Brazilian Ramon Machado heading home Darren Lok’s (pic) cross. But Hai Phong restored their two-goal advantage a minute later with Tien Dung netting his second of the game.
Gary Steven Robbat gave Sabah a glimmer of hope with his 80th minute goal but Hai Phong were not to be denied the three points.
It is the first defeat in three matches for Sabah. They beat Hougang United 3-1 and PSM Makassar 5-0 earlier.
Sabah and Hai Phong will be meeting again in Kota Kinabalu on Nov 9.
Sabah and Hai Phong now share six points to be in the top two of Group H.
