{"id":69692,"date":"2026-08-11T13:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T13:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/69692\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T13:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T13:50:08","slug":"adelaide-united-beaten-by-vietnamese-club-cong-an-hanoi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/69692\/","title":{"rendered":"Adelaide United beaten by Vietnamese club Cong An Hanoi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adelaide United\u2019s disappointing start to the 2026-27 season continued on Tuesday night with a 2-0 loss to Vietnamese club Cong An Hanoi in\u00a0an AFC Champions League Elite playoff.<\/p>\n

Already knocked out of the Australia Cup with a shock 2-1 away loss to NPL Victoria club South Melbourne last month, the Reds again came up short, this time on home soil at Coopers Stadium.<\/p>\n

The only consolation for the Reds is that despite the defeat, they will compete in this season\u2019s AFC Champions League Two.<\/p>\n

However, a spot in the higher quality and much more lucrative Elite competition \u2013 in which the Reds could have earned more than $1.1 million just for qualifying for the group stage \u2013 went begging with a lacklustre display.<\/p>\n

Adelaide\u2019s lack of potency in attack was again evident, with the Reds in desperate need of a quality striker before the start of their A-League campaign.<\/p>\n

While it was a forgettable display from the hosts, it was a much happier night for ex-Adelaide midfielder Stefan Mauk, who joined the Vietnamese club last year.<\/p>\n

Mauk was jeered by Reds fans when in possession of the ball, but the South Australian product had the last laugh against his former club.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so proud to represent Vietnam and we\u2019re so proud to represent Cong An Hanoi,\u201d Mauk said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to be Adelaide to be completely honest. It\u2019s the team I grew up supporting … but it\u2019s a game you want to win when you\u2019re playing in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adelaide\u2019s Spanish playmaker Juan Muniz came close to giving the Reds the lead in the ninth minute with a curling free kick that had goalkeeper Filip Nguyen beaten but flew centimetres wide of the target.<\/p>\n

The hosts had another chance 17 minutes later when midfielder Ryan White unleashed a long-distance strike. However, it flew over the crossbar.<\/p>\n

Cong An eventually got themselves into the contest, and went ahead in the 41st minute through forward David Henen.<\/p>\n

Fed by Colombian attacking weapon Brayan Perea, Belgium-born Togo international Henen got the better of Adelaide defender Panagiotis Kikianis before producing a powerful shot that was too much for Reds keeper Joshua Smits to deal with.<\/p>\n

It was part of an unhappy night for Kikianis, who was booked in the 22nd minute for a needless foul on Mauk<\/p>\n

Reds midfielder Ethan Alagich had an opportunity to equalise in the 53rd minute, but his shot was saved by Nguyen.<\/p>\n

The visitors proved to be more clinical in the 64th minute, doubling their lead through Perea.<\/p>\n

Henen was this time the provider with a low cross that was well finished by Perea in his first appearance for his new club.<\/p>\n

Adelaide had a late chance to score, but a header from White was well saved by Nguyen.<\/p>\n

Read related topics:Adelaide<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adelaide United\u2019s disappointing start to the 2026-27 season continued on Tuesday night with a 2-0 loss to Vietnamese…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93708,93759,55753,93720,93740,93729,93727,93765,38123,74565,93724,93709,93743,93764,93749,93744,93733,93769,41992,42435,395,93751,13198,957,3013,8790,93719,46057,93753,93726,1112,22,23,93770,33529,93768,93737,93747,93741,93748,93754,93713,93746,93718,93723,75334,93755,93762,93705,69508,9341,93738,36872,93712,3593,93767,93732,93710,93716,54026,93707,1080,93728,93721,36518,93745,93731,3121,93760,93714,93771,38822,93706,93742,29665,93711,93715,2806,12882,93447,84317,93756,93766,93717,93758,70573,47807,40493,43008,93722,44012,93734,93739,70567,61192,40772,93763,46338,70587,43078,93730,37679,93750,38140,93725,93736,42011,38175,37452,36985,16830,93735,93757,93761,47262,93752],"class_list":["post-69692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-adelaide","tag-s-afc-champions-league-two-however","tag-s-disappointing-start","tag-s-lack","tag-s-spanish-playmaker-juan-muniz","tag-17-minutes","tag-a-2-0-loss","tag-a-curling-free-kick","tag-a-forgettable-display","tag-a-game","tag-a-header","tag-a-lacklustre-display-adelaide","tag-a-late-chance","tag-a-long-distance-strike","tag-a-low-cross","tag-a-much-happier-night","tag-a-needless-foul","tag-a-powerful-shot","tag-a-quality-striker","tag-a-shock","tag-a-spot","tag-adelaide","tag-adelaide-defender-panagiotis-kikianis","tag-adelaide-sa","tag-adelaide-united","tag-afc","tag-afc-champions-league-elite","tag-an-afc-champions-league-elite-playoff","tag-an-opportunity","tag-an-unhappy-night","tag-another-chance","tag-attack","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-belgium-born-togo-international-henen","tag-centimetres","tag-colombian-attacking","tag-cong-an-hanoi","tag-coopers-stadium","tag-coopers-stadium-the-only-consolation","tag-david-henen-fed","tag-desperate-need","tag-elite-spot","tag-ex-adelaide-midfielder-stefan-mauk","tag-former-adelaide-united-midfielder-stefan-mauk","tag-goalkeeper-filip-nguyen","tag-his-first-appearance","tag-his-former-club","tag-his-new-club-adelaide","tag-his-old-club","tag-his-shot","tag-home-soil","tag-kikianis","tag-last-month","tag-last-year-mauk","tag-loss","tag-lucrative-champions-league-elite-spot","tag-mauk","tag-maukreds-midfielder-ethan-alagich","tag-midfielder-ryan-white","tag-more-than-1-1-million","tag-much-more-lucrative-elite-competition","tag-newswire-sport","tag-nguyen","tag-nguyen-the-visitors","tag-night","tag-npl-victoria-club-south-melbourne","tag-panagiotis-kikianis","tag-part","tag-perea","tag-perea-henen","tag-poor-start","tag-possession","tag-potency","tag-quest","tag-reds","tag-reds-fans","tag-reds-keeper-joshua-smits","tag-sa","tag-score","tag-stefan-mauk","tag-the-2026-27-season","tag-the-22nd-minute","tag-the-41st-minute","tag-the-53rd-minute","tag-the-64th-minute","tag-the-australia-cup","tag-the-ball","tag-the-better","tag-the-contest","tag-the-crossbar-cong-an","tag-the-defeat","tag-the-group-stage","tag-the-higher-quality","tag-the-hosts","tag-the-last-laugh","tag-the-lead","tag-the-ninth-minute","tag-the-provider","tag-the-reds","tag-the-season","tag-the-south-australian-product","tag-the-start","tag-the-target-the-hosts","tag-the-team","tag-the-vietnamese-club","tag-their-a-league-campaign-while","tag-their-lead","tag-this-season","tag-this-time","tag-tuesday","tag-vietnam","tag-vietnamese-club-cong-an-hanoi","tag-vietnamese-rivals","tag-weapon-brayan-perea","tag-white","tag-with-it"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}