The Philippines couldn’t sustain its early lead and absorbed a 2-1 loss to Vietnam in the semifinals of the Asean U-23 Championship at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Javier Mariona scored the opener for the Filipino U-23 footballers in the 36th minute but Vietnam struck twice courtesy of Nguyen Dinh Bac in the 41st and Nguyen Xuan Bac in the 54th to progress into the final against host Indonesia.

READ: PH qualifies for Asean U-23 semifinals for first time

Coach Garrath McPherson’s side saw its title hopes disappear, and will now aim for a third place finish in Monday’s match with Thailand.

Thailand lost to Indonesia, 7-6, on penalties after the two teams couldn’t break their 1-1 tie despite needing two extra periods in the other semis.

A scrambling inside the box allowed Mariona to fire a left-footed attempt into the far side of the post that gave the Philippines a dream start. It was the second goal of the competition for the men’s senior team member.

But the Philippine lead lasted just five minutes as Dinh Bac rebounded his own miss that came off a cross from the left flank and beat out goalkeeper Nico Guimaraes to put Vietnam back on level terms.

Vietnam would then take the lead nine minutes after the restart as Xuan Bac came through with a glancing header that Guimaraes had no chance of preventing, and the Philippines was left to chase for an equalizer the rest of the way.