The win for Vietnam sets up a semi-final encounter against Syria, who edged Palestine 1-0 earlier on Thursday.
Vietnam, the 2018 AFC U23 Championship runners-up, found it hard to break down their West Asian opponents, who had better chances in front of goal with Mohamed Marhoon testing goalkeeper Ngyuen Van Noang from a free-kick in the 16th minute and again in open play 22 minutes later.
The East Asians’ best chance came after Bahrain were reduced to 10 men in the 42nd minute following Ahmed Sanad’s dismissal but Luong Xuan Truong’s effort did not trouble Bahrain shotstopper Ammar Ahmed as both teams drew a blank at halftime.
Despite playing with a man down, Samir Chammam’s charges kept it together after the break against a Vietnam side who have not lost a match in the tournament.
The match intensified after the hour mark and Bahrain should have gone in front from Marhoon’s set-piece in the 63rd minute but his free-kick was denied by the woodwork.
Park Hang-seo’s men, however, delivered a lethal blow through substitute Nguyen Cong Phuong’s fine strike in the 88th minute to seal a hard-fought victory.
Photo: INASGOC
