KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur (KL) City FC’s dream of advancing to the semi-finals of the ASEAN Club Championship (ACC) is in jeopardy after they lost 3-2 to Cong An Ha Noi (CAHN) FC of Vietnam in their Group B match at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium here today.
The visitors, under the guidance of coach Mano Polking, began aggressively and opened accounts in the 10th minute through Nguyen Quan Hai.
Undeterred, KL City restored parity 14 minutes later when Adrijan Rudovic headed home a corner kick taken by Paulo Josue.
Spurred on by the equaliser, KL went 2-1 up in the 32nd minute when Josue turned goalscorer by nodding in a cross from Jovan Motika.
CAHN came back after the break with an offensive setup and made it 2-2 in the 68th minute when Bui Hoang Viet Anh headed in a cross.
With the game finely poised at 2-2, KL City were dealt a severe body blow when defender Mohamad Kamal Azizi Mohamad Zabr and skipper Josue were sent off in the 76th and 88th minutes for a second bookable offence.
With KL down to nine men, CAHN finally managed to get the winner through striker Le Van Do in injury time and take home all three points.
With the defeat, KL City dropped to fourth place in Group B with six points while CAHN remained atop the standings with 12 points to confirm their ticket to the semi-finals.
