The Indonesian champions failed to make the most of home advantage in the Group G encounter and the Vietnamese side will certainly be satisfied with a point from a tricky away fixture.

The Indonesian champions had chances of their own before the Vietnamese side piled on the pressure in the late stages but failed to find the winning goal.

After a lively but scrappy start to the game, Persija’s Bruno Matos had the fans on their feet with some sublime skill taking him past a few challenges but the move came to nothing.

Competing in the AFC Cup for the first time in their 103-year history, the Indonesian side took a first half lead before being pegged back by a stunning second half strike from 20-year-old Hami Syahin.

Despite pushing hard to find a winner late in the game and forcing Rudy Khairullah into a number of fine saves, the six-time Indonesian league champions had to settle for a point away from home, a result Kalezić was happy to accept after the game.

The Jordanian side had marked their return to the competition with a hard-fought victory over Nejmeh at King Abdullah II Stadium on Monday.

Just 48 hours before their first continental encounter, Al Wehdat had to navigate an away trip to Irbid where they defeated Al Sareeh 4-2 in the domestic league. And coach Yakoubi was adamant that fixture congestion had impacted his side’s preparations for the Nejmeh clash.

Ceres were beaten in the ASEAN Zonal Finals by Home United of Singapore last year – the opponent over whom they triumphed at the same stage in 2017 – and have made it to the knockout stage in each of the past three years.

As far as Vidakovic was concerned their 3-2 win against Shan to get up and running in Group G was too close for comfort though, and he wants an improvement in the next game if the team are to continue their strong form in continental competition.

It only took 13 minutes for the scoring to get underway at Thuwunna Stadium, as Sekou Sylla received a Htoo Khant Lwin throw-in from the right, dropped the shoulder to turn his marker Amirul Adli with ease, and then slammed home past Tampines goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari from an acute angle to give Yangon, ASEAN Zonal semi-finalists last year, the lead.

Hanoi took the lead in spectacular style after just six minutes. Following a corner, the ball was fed back to Do Duy Manh, who smashed a shot from 30 yards in off the underside of the bar.

It didn’t take long for the hosts to add a second. Nguyen Quang Hai’s backheel found its way to Nguyen Van Dung on the left and his low cross was tapped in by Ganiyu Oseni.