Last week we introduced the competition and reviewed what transpired in Group C. As a quick review, the three groups competing in the Group Stage are not playing at the same time. Each group has a separate set of match dates.

Group A played all of their match at the Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Group A features two semifinalists from last year’s edition of the AFC Women’s Champions League. Melbourne City FC, who lost in the final, and Ho Chi Minh City FC, who went out in the semifinal round to the eventual winners.

Joining them in the group are two teams that made it to the Group Stage via the Preliminary Round: Lion City Sailors FC of Singapore and Stallion Laguna FC of the Philippines.

Ho Chi Minh City FC were founded in 1998 with the launch of the Vietnamese Women’s League, and they have been a dominant force in Vietnamese women’s soccer. Ho Chi Minh City FC have 14 league titles to their name, including 7 straight title wins dating back to the 2019 season. By comparison, their main rival, Hanoi FC, are next with 10 titles. Ho Chi Minh City FC has also won the newer Vietnamese Women’s Cup 4 of the 7 seasons it’s been held.

For you American WoSo fans, Ho Chi Minh City FC has 5 Americans on the team: defenders Chloe Gorman and Aubrey Goodwill, midfielder Tatiana Mason, and forward Sakura Yoshida. They also have midfielder Maria Khan, who represents Pakistan at international level but was born in the United States.

Lion City Sailors FC were founded in 1997 as Home United. The club was taken over in 2020 and rechristened to their current name. In their earlier years has Home United, the club were perennial bridesmaids, finishing second in four consecutive seasons in the early 2000s. The club won their first league title in 2022, ending a run of four straight titles for Warriors FC. Lion City followed their initial title with two more championships in 2023 and 2024, that latter of which earned them qualification for this year’s Champions League.

Melbourne City FC were founded in 2015 and participated in their first W-League (now A-League) season that year. They also took home their first title that year. With the backing of the City Football Group, Melbourne City FC are always expected to be competitive, but they wouldn’t win the second title until the 2019/20 season. More recently, City are two-time A-League defending champions.

Stallion Laguna FC first took part in the PFF Women’s League in the 2019-2020 season. Interestingly, they’ve never won the league. Instead, the Philippine Football Federation planned to revamp the Women’s Division in 2024, so the Women’s Cup served as the primary competition that year, which Stallion Laguna won.

Full Match Here

Melbourne City FC were always the favorites to win the group, so the opening match for Ho Chi Minh City and Stallion Laguna would set the tone for who was most likely to finish second.

20’ The opening minutes saw both teams getting forward, but neither team was able to really dominate or create serious danger. The first chance of note came in the 20’ minute, when Mia Bookhard (#7) drove into the Ho Chi Minh City box and squared for Chandler McDaniel, whose first time shot is well saved by Tran Thi Kim Thanh.

42’ The teams would continue to battle to a stalemate throughout the first half. As the half was coming to a close, Ho Chi Minh City nearly stole a lead on a deflected clearance that sent Stallion keeper Olivia McDaniel scrambling back, but the ball clanged off the crossbar and out. McDaniel likely had it covered, but it would have been a tricky save.

52’ Ho Chi Minh City would start the second half strong, getting some forward momentum. In the 52’, a ball over the top of the defense by Tran Nguyen Bao Chau (#72) was well controlled by Tran Thi Thuy Trang (#88), who broke toward goal, but the veteran’s shot was easily saved by McDaniel.

58’ The breakthrough would come a few minutes later. Ho Chi Minh City won a freekick just outside of the Stallion Laguna box. Huynh Nhu (#9) stepped up and buried the kick into the side netting.

75’ Stallion Laguna continued to fight for an equalizer, and they nearly found it when Chandler McDaniel’s corner was headed on goal by Angelica Teves, but the ball was tipped over the bar by Tran Thi Kim Thanh to preserve her side’s lead.

Minutes later Stallion Laguna were awarded a penalty by Mahnaz Zokaee, the Iranian ref. But it was recommended for review and the ref overturned her initial call. No penalty.

Ho Chi Minh City FC would hold on to their lead and take a big step in qualifying for the knockout rounds for the second year in a row.

Full Time: Ho Chi Minh City FC 1-0 Stallion Laguna FC

Full Match Here

Melbourne City dominated this match from the start. Their first half goals came from two penalties converted by Holly McNamera. Melbourne City continued to dominate in the second half to complete the win.

Highlight of the Match: Alexia Apostolakis’s sublime curling finish from the top of the box.

Full Match Here

Melbourne City, again, dominated their competition in the group stage, this time pouring in goals against Stallion Laguna. Despite the bigger margin of defeat, Stallion were more competitive against Melbourne City than were Lion City, but two goals in the first 10 minutes put to bed any hopes of Stallion finding a way to steal points against the giants of the group.

Highlight of the Match: Despite 7 goals being scored, the highlight is this bit of flair from Danella Butrus on the end line.

Full Match Here

As in their first match, Lion City concede a lot of pressure and spent the majority of this match on the defensive, but they had an easier time managing Ho Chi Minh City’s attack. When Lion City could counter, they tended to attack down the wings, but those attacks rarely produced a shot, let alone dangerous chances. For Ho Chi Minh City, once they got into the final third, they struggled to get by Lion City’s compact defense.

The match took a scary turn in the 76th minute when Lion City’s Nur Ain Salleh collapsed on the field without contact. She was looked after for nearly 10 minutes before being carted off the field and taken to hospital by ambulance. Reporting from Singapore confirmed she did recover, but it was scary to see her collapse, especially at only 15 years old.

Unfortunately for Lion City, they would conceded basically directly from the restart, as their keeper, Izairida Shakira, misreads an innocuous ball forward that bounces over her head and into the net. Ho Chi Minh City would score a second in stoppage time to complete the win.

Highlight of the Match: Perhaps not a highlight, per se, the moment of the match was Ho Chi Minh City’s first goal to finally break the deadlock.

Full Match Here

Stallion and Lion City faced off to determine the third-place finisher in Group A. The teams that finish in the top 2 of each group advance to the quarterfinals along with the two best third-placed teams. So, winning this match is potentially for more than pride.

Both teams created attacking chances early, forcing saves from the respective keepers. Stallion took the lead midway through the first half via a header from a corner and doubled that lead near the end of the first half. Lion City had some good attacking early in the second half, and a strong save from Olivia McDaniel prevented that momentum from turning into a comeback for Lion City. As the second half progressed, Stallion Laguna regained control of the match and found three more goals in the final 15 minutes to end their group stage with a solid victory.

Highlight of the Match: Tayla Christensen had a brace on the day, and her second goal was the pick of the lot.

Full Match Here

Both teams came into this match knowing they had already qualified for the quarterfinals. But finishing top in the group promises an easier matchup in the knockout rounds. Of course, the intrigue of the match was quickly quelled. Melbourne City had the lead in the first minute. That, alone, isn’t the end of things, but they would double their lead in the 4th minute. City would wrap up the scoring in the 40’.

Ho Chi Minh City FC did get on the attack, especially in the second half. K’Thua forced a save from the keeper in the 65’. But Ho Chi Minh City FC never caused too much stress for the Australian side.

Highlight of the Match: It’s hard to say which of the opening minute goals was more important, so I’ll just include them both.

As last year’s finalists, Melbourne City FC entered this year’s competition with expectations, and they duly delivered in the group stage, scoring 15 goals and conceding none. They’ll be joined in the knockout rounds by Ho Chi Minh City FC.

1 Melbourne City FC - 9pts
2 Ho Chi Minh City FC - 6pts
3 Stallion Laguna FC - 3pts
4 Lion City Sailors FC - 0pts

Stallion Laguna’s point total in third place means Suwon FC qualify for the knockout rounds. Stallion Laguna will have to wait and see how Group B finishes to determine their final fate. Lion City FC are eliminated from the tournament.