HANOI: Malaysia's hopes of reaching the knockout stage of the AFF Cup suffered a setback after a 3-0 loss to Vietnam in a Group B match at My Dinh Stadium today.
The defeat will be bitterly felt by the Malaysian team who had the advantage of playing with a man extra for half an hour after Vietnam's Nguyen Van Toan was sent off in the 33rd minute.
However, a controversial decision to award a penalty to Vietnam by Japanese referee Sato Ryuji for what looked like a coming together between Azam Azmi and Doan Van Hau outside the penalty box turned the game on its head.
The baffling decision was made even worse when Ryuji also decided to show the red card to Azam as Que Ngoc Hai converted the ensuing spot kick to double Vietnam's lead.
Harimau Malaya pressed and pushed but could not break down a resolute Vietnamese defence with keeper Dang Van Lam in great form to thwart waves of Malaysian attacks.
Kim Pan Gon reverted to the players that started against Myanmar last week as Brendan Gan, Syihan Hazmi, Dominic Tan, Darren Lok and Stuart Wilkin all came back into the starting XI.
But it was the home side who produced the opening goal in a chilly night in Hanoi when Malaysia failed to defend a corner kick and allowed Nguyen Tien Linh the chance to head home in the 28th minute.
Then came the pivotal moment in the match when just five minutes later, Van Toan received his marching orders for a second yellow following a foul on Dominic.
As a result Malaysia started to create openings with Mukhairi Ajmal presented with two goal-scoring chances before the end of the first half but twice Van Lam was on hand to stop the attempts.
After Azam's sending-off, Vietnam piled on the pressure and sealed a comprehensive victory when substitute Nguyen Quang Hai played a delightful through ball for Nguyen Hoang Duc to make it 3-0.
Malaysia remain in the hunt for a semifinal spot but will have to beat Singapore in the final group match after the New Year to ensure it will not be two successive exits for the national team in the group stage in this tournament.