PERTH, Australia (AP) — Taiwan defeated Vietnam 1-0 on Saturday to move into second place in Group C at the Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining.
Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of its three Asian Cup titles in 1981.
It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, which created several chances to extend its lead.
Vietnam, the 2022 quarterfinalist, beat India in its opener but struggled to threaten the Taiwan defense and failed to record a shot on target. Thi Duyen Tran came closest with a first-half chance that went wide from inside the area.
Both teams now have three points from two games. Taiwan sits ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, which faced India later Saturday. India is still seeking its first point in the tournament.
Record attendance continues
Australian organizers said Saturday that the tournament had sold 250,000 tickets. The milestone follows the tournament already breaking the all-time total attendance record, with 92,795 fans at the first 10 matches.
That surpassed the previous record of 59,910 for the 2010 edition in China.
State of play
The top two teams in each of the three groups advance to the quarterfinals along with the two best third-place teams.
In Group A, Australia, which beat Iran 4-0 on Thursday, and South Korea have already qualified. Australia and South Korea will meet in Sydney on Sunday to determine top spot in the group, where another record crowd is expected.
After back-to-back losses, Iran needs a big win over the Philippines (0-2) on Sunday to have any chance of advancing to the quarterfinals and qualifying for next year’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
In Group B, defending champions China and three-time winners North Korea are through to the quarterfinals after their second consecutive wins in group matches Friday. In opening matches on Tuesday, Myong Yu Jong had a first-half hat trick in North Korea’s 3-0 win over Uzbekistan and China beat Bangladesh 2-0.
Group B play concludes Monday in Sydney when North Korea plays China in a match that will decide first place in the group, and Bangladesh takes on Uzbekistan.
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