HANOI (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia stormed into the finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup on Thursday, triumphing 4-2 against Vietnam at the My Dinh Stadium to win the contest 5-4 on aggregate.
The Harimau Malaya overturned a first leg deficit, where they lost 2-1 at home to a vibrant Vietnamese side on Sunday.
However, the Vietnamese could not build on that success and were trailing the return leg 2-0 to Malaysia after just 16 minutes, thanks to goals from Safiq Rahim and under-fire striker Norshahrul Idlan Talaha.
Safiq scored a fifth minute penalty before Norshahrul doubled the lead in the 16th minute.
Malaysia then conceded a penalty which was tucked away by Lee Chong Vinh, before a Vietnamese own-goal made the score 3-1 by the 30-minute mark.
Shukor Adnan then headed in off a corner to make it 4-1, leaving the Vietnamese with a mountain to climb as they would have needed to score three goals to even the tie.
However, Lee managed to pull another goal back for the determined Vietnamese in the 79th minute, and the Harimau Malaya were forced to endure a nervous last 10 minutes.
Malaysia will play three-time winners Thailand in the final.
The first leg will be held in Bangkok on Dec 17 before a return leg tie takes play in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 20.