Both sides were looking to bounce back from disappointing results in their openers with Vietnam suffering a shock 1-1 draw with Myanmar, while China fell to a 3-1 defeat against Thailand.

Vietnam began on the front foot at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium with Nguyen Anh Duy calling Song Zechao into an early reaction save inside the second minute.

China did respond, though, and Shen Siming’s stinging effort from distance shortly after forced Ho Van Y to palm over.

But it was Vietnam who took the lead with 11 minutes gone as China accumulated their sixth foul of the half and Gia Hung confidently dispatched the resulting free-kick.

 

China went close to an instant response when Kaisaier Taximaimait had the court open up for him on the counter, but the onrushing Van Y did enough to force his shot fly wide.

 

Li Xin’s side continued to test Van Y and Wang Bo drew another flying save to push away his powerfully struck shot with less than five minutes of the half remaining.

China’s use of the powerplay meant they finished the stronger of the sides as the half-time break came, however Vietnam remained on top of the scoreline.

 

And the Southeast Asian’s could have doubled that advantage just over three minutes after the restart when Pham Duc Hoa shook the frame of the goal with a thunderous effort that slammed into the post.

 

Nguyen Thinh Phat was then twice denied by Song in quick succession as Vietnam continued their much-improved performance in the second half.

Both teams then survived red card checks on Tu Minh Quang and Xu Yang respectively as things began to heat up into the closing minutes of the game.

 

Shen almost made it a blockbuster finisher with a stunning drive in the last minute that smashed against the crossbar.

 

Vietnam will now face a much-anticipated tie with hosts Thailand next, while China will take on Myanmar on Sunday.