The first chance to score went to Saigon six minutes after the opening whistle when Oguwike fired a powerful shot from close range, which was comfortably blocked by Selangor goalkeeper Razali.
Saigon continued to control the first half with a series of stormy attacks towards the visitors’ side, but did not manage to score despite many golden opportunities to take the lead in the 22nd, 37th, 40th and 45 minutes.
Saigon’s efforts were only rewarded in first-half stoppage time when Oguwike rifled home an unstoppable strike to put his team out in front.
Selangor responded in the second half with an equaliser from Francis Doe six minutes after the hour mark; however less than a minute later, Oguwike took advantage of the visitors’ defensive mistake to push Saigon ahead again and claim all three points for the home side.
The first leg of the AFC Cup wrapped up with Saigon Xuan Thanh and India’s East Bengal sharing the top position in Group H with seven points each, while Selangor and the Tampines Rovers from Singapore finished their campaign at the bottom of the rankings, both earning just one point.
The comfortable 2-1 victory over Selangor on Wednesday is bound to boost Saigon’s confidence in the upcoming return-leg opener between the two teams, which is scheduled to take place at Shah Alam Stadium on April 9.
Earlier on Tuesday, defending V-League champions SHB Da Nang surprisingly dropped to second place in the Group G standings with six points overall, following their disappointing 0-5 loss to Malaysia’s Kelantan at Sultan Mohammad IV Stadium.
Da Nang will have a chance to avenge this humiliating defeat on April 10 when they play their home-turf return-leg opener against Kelantan at Chi Lang Stadium.
