Hoang Van Phuc’s side played offensively right from the beginning, forcing the Lao side to play on the defence during the majority of the first half.
The first opportunity to open the scoring went to Vietnam seven minutes into the game, however Ha Minh Tuan failed to overcome Lao goalkeeper Somvang.
Vu Minh Tuan also missed a chance to put his team ahead nine minutes later as his strike was blocked by the Lao keeper.
It was not until the 27th minute that Vietnam’s efforts paid off with an opener from Manh Hung, who fired an unstoppable strike from a 20m distance to give Vietnam a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, captain Van Quyet had a stunning personal showing, dragging the ball past two Lao defenders to double the advantage for Vietnam.
Laos came back stronger in the second half seeking to equalise the score; but their attacks were not strong enough to break through Vietnam’s solid defence.
Van Quyet nailed his personal double in the 74th minute before Minh Tuan and Hong Quan scored two other goals in the next 12 minutes to seal a final 5-0 victory for Vietnam.
The triumph gifted Vietnam three more points and maintain their hopes to advance further into the tournament. Vietnam is currently sitting third in the Group A table with six points, behind Singapore (eight points) and defending champions Malaysia (seven points).
Vietnam and Malaysia will meet together in a crunch encounter tomorrow to decide the winner of the remaining semi-finals place, while it looks like Singapore is bound to advance.
Regarding the women’s football discipline, Vietnam made it through to the semi-final round as Group A leaders with six points after edging out hosts Myanmar 1-0 in their final group match on Sunday.
