Sarach Yooyen’s early strike and Chaiyaphon Otton’s stoppage-time breakaway end two years without a win over Vietnam and all but settle Group B. Behind them, 10-man Indonesia hold Malaysia, Singapore keep breathing and Pakistan make history.

With Thailand a goal up and holding on in Bandung on Tuesday night, All Things Thai Football put into words what a lot of Thai supporters were thinking.

All Things Thai Football (@ThaiFootballs), during the game: “If we play so boring like this and still win, everyone will probably just forget about it. But if we draw or lose, Hudson’s gonna get cooked.”

It is the most accurate thing anyone said about Thailand’s 2-0 win over Vietnam in Bandung, including both coaches. Anthony Hudson’s side scored after 10 minutes, spent most of the next 80 defending the lead, and then scored again in stoppage time on the break. It was not pretty and it will not be remembered as pretty. It may well be remembered as the night the spell was broken.

Hudson said it himself afterwards: in two years at national-team level, Thailand had not beaten Vietnam. There were two final defeats in that time, the second only in August, 4-2 on aggregate. Tuesday was not revenge, exactly. It was something more useful than that: six points from six, a goal difference of plus six, and, if the tie-breakers work as reported, a place in Monday’s final with a game to spare.

Group B: Thailand 2-0 Vietnam

Thailand

2-0

Vietnam

Tue 29 Sept, Si Jalak Harupat, Bandung · Sarach Yooyen 10′; Chaiyaphon Otton 90+3′

The goal that decided the evening came early enough for Thailand to spend the rest of it deciding what to do with it. Vietnam’s back line half-cleared a ball on the edge of the area, and Sarach Yooyen, who has spent a decade doing the unseen work in Thai midfields, hit it first time with his right foot into the top corner. Goals are not what Sarach is picked for, which may be why nobody closed him down.

After that the game became a question for Kim Sang-sik, and for a while Vietnam had an answer. Kim started with three central midfielders, Lê Phạm Thành Long, Võ Hoàng Minh Khoa and Cao Quang Vinh, to fight Thailand for the middle of the pitch, and on 37 minutes Minh Khoa’s through-ball sent Tài Lộc clear to chip the goalkeeper. VAR found him offside. Vietnam were without Nguyễn Xuân Son, ruled out of the rest of the tournament with the thigh injury he picked up against the Philippines, and without him they had nobody to turn possession into goals.

Thailand’s best chance to put the game to bed came seven minutes after half-time, when Sarach’s free-kick struck the post. After that they dropped deeper and deeper. Kim said he had expected it, and he was right. Hoàng Đức, only just back from injury and brought on in the second half, had the clearest Vietnamese chance of the night and saw it saved. The equaliser never came, and three minutes into stoppage time, with Vietnam committed forward, Anan Yodsangwal slid a ball through for Chaiyaphon Otton to run on and finish.

Anthony Hudson, Thailand coach (via Tiền Phong, translated): “Vietnam is truly very strong. Over the past two years, Thailand hasn’t beaten Vietnam at the national team level… This is the best generation of Thai players I’ve worked with, in both character and skill.”

Kim Sang-sik, Vietnam coach (to VnExpress, translated): “First, I want to apologise to the fans… In the second half, I changed my plan because I predicted Thailand would sit deep, and that’s exactly what happened. It’s unfortunate that Vietnam couldn’t score, and I feel ashamed because of that.”

Hudson was also asked about his new contract, reportedly running to 2029, and said it had nothing to do with the result and that he had not discussed it with his players. Fair enough. But it is worth noticing how quickly the conversation around him has moved. A week ago this tournament looked like a referendum on his job. Now it looks like a victory lap he has not quite earned the right to run, because, as the tweet says, if the football is this cautious and the results stop coming, the patience will go with them.

Group B: Philippines 2-2 Pakistan

Philippines

2-2

Pakistan

Tue 29 Sept, Si Jalak Harupat, Bandung · Sandro Reyes 24′, Bjørn Martin Kristensen 33′ (pen); Ali Akbar Khan 47′, Abdul Samad Arshad 60′

Three days after losing 4-0 to Thailand, Pakistan did something no Pakistan team had done before: scored in a FIFA tournament, then scored again, then took a point home.

For 45 minutes it looked like a routine afternoon for the Philippines. Sandro Reyes tapped in after a defensive error on 24 minutes, and just past the half-hour Bjørn Martin Kristensen converted a penalty after Mohammad Fazal handled. Nolberto Solano made changes at half-time, sending on Ali Agha and Hayyan Khattak, and it took two minutes for them to matter. Ali Akbar Khan collected on the left and scored his first international goal. Then Abdul Samad Arshad, who had dragged one wide against Thailand, drove into the area, cut inside and levelled with his left foot. Dawn has that at 60 minutes, the Express Tribune at 55 and Tiebreaker Times at 62; we have gone with the hour until FIFA’s match sheet settles it. Mohibullah’s late block kept the point.

For the Philippines it is a bad result at a bad time. Carles Cuadrat’s side now need to beat Thailand on Friday and hope Vietnam fail to beat Pakistan simply to reach the bronze match.

Group A: Malaysia 0-0 Indonesia

Malaysia

0-0

Indonesia

Mon 28 Sept, Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta · Red card: Thom Haye (Indonesia) 35′

The first of the round’s two de facto semi-finals ended with nobody through and one team feeling rather better about it than the other.

Indonesia went down to 10 men 10 minutes before half-time. The South Korean referee first showed Thom Haye a yellow for his challenge on Arif Aiman, then went to the monitor and upgraded it to red for the stud on the ankle. That should have been the cue for Malaysia, who had the ball for most of what followed. It was not. Elkan Baggott was outstanding against Bergson da Silva, Maarten Paes made the saves he had to, and Malaysia’s shooting and heading were loose all night.

John Herdman, Indonesia coach (to Detik, translated): “You might see the red card as a curse, but it’s actually a gift. We needed such moments as part of this team’s journey… So the red card was both a gift and a curse.”

It is a very Herdman thing to say, and not wrong. Indonesia’s point keeps them alive, on the same four points as Malaysia but one goal worse off. The head-to-head was drawn, so Thursday comes down to goal difference, and Haye will miss it.

Group A: Singapore 1-0 Bangladesh

Singapore

1-0

Bangladesh

Mon 28 Sept, Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta · Harhys Stewart 35′

Harhys “Sleepy” Stewart has now scored two goals for Singapore, both winners in 1-0 games, and both against Bangladesh. His first came in Asian Cup qualifying in March. His second, 10 minutes before half-time on Monday, was a header from Abdullah Nur Adam’s cross, and it keeps Gavin Lee’s side in the tournament.

Bangladesh were much better than they had been against Malaysia. Thomas Dooley made four changes, restoring Jamal Bhuyan to the side, and they dominated the early stages. But they did not score, and their coach did not pretend to be surprised.

Thomas Dooley, Bangladesh coach (to the Daily Star): “We created chances, but we don’t have a striker like Indonesia or other Asian teams have… The key thing in football is competition. The domestic competition we have in Bangladesh is not very big.”

The tables, and what they mean

Group B. A draw against the Philippines on Friday puts Thailand in the final whatever happens elsewhere. In practice they are almost certainly there already. Only Vietnam can catch them on points, and if head-to-head is the first tie-breaker, as Indonesian outlets report and as FIFA’s own headline implies, Tuesday’s win means Thailand finish top even if they lose. If goal difference came first, it would take a heavy Thailand defeat and a big Vietnam win over Pakistan, played at the same time, to overturn a seven-goal swing. Either way, Hudson can rotate.

Group A. This is where the drama is. Malaysia and Indonesia are level on four points, with the head-to-head drawn and Malaysia one goal better off. Both final games kick off together on Thursday at 19:30. Indonesia’s path is simple: beat Bangladesh, and if Malaysia also win, beat them by more. And Singapore, beaten by Indonesia on the opening night, can still win the group: beat Malaysia, and they go top if Indonesia fail to beat Bangladesh.

Round 3 to watch

The full team-by-team guide, with squads and every fixture, is in our FIFA ASEAN Cup preview. Jump straight to Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia.

Sources: FIFA — Thailand beat Vietnam to reach the final, VnExpress — Thailand 2-0 Vietnam, VnExpress — Kim Sang-sik press conference, Tiền Phong — Hudson press conference, PPTV — Thailand 2-0 Vietnam, Matichon — Thailand 2-0 Vietnam, Daily News — Thailand 2-0 Vietnam, Tuổi Trẻ — Xuân Son ruled out, Dawn — Philippines 2-2 Pakistan, Express Tribune — Pakistan hold Philippines, Tiebreaker Times — Philippines settle for draw, Gulf News — Pakistan’s first FIFA tournament point, Nukta — Pakistan v Philippines, The Star — Malaysia 0-0 Indonesia, Detik — Herdman on Haye’s red card, Tirto — Group A scenarios, Prothom Alo — Singapore 1-0 Bangladesh, TBS News — Bangladesh lose to Singapore, Daily Star — Singapore 1-0 Bangladesh, Daily Star — Dooley on deeper problems, All Things Thai Football on X