Van Quyet extended Hanoi’s aggregate lead with an early poacher’s effort, then restored the two-goal buffer after Altyn Asyr captain Serdar Geldiyev netted the first of his two penalties just before half-time.

Geldiyev’s second successful spot-kick set up a grandstand finish with eight minutes remaining, but Hanoi survived the hosts’ desperate search for an equaliser to set up a meeting with either Abahani Limited Dhaka or 4.25 SC in the Inter-Zone Final.

A seven goal thriller wowed the crowds at Bangabandhu National Stadium as Abahani Limited Dhaka edged an action-packed 4-3 scoreline in last week's first leg for a slim advantage going into the return meeting in the DPR Korea capital.

The winners of the tie at Kim Il Sung Stadium will face either Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr or Hanoi FC of Vietnam in the Inter-Zone final next month.

The Bangladeshi club surprised many on their way to the Inter-Zone Semi-finals and topped that when they, again against expectations, defeated DPR Korea's 4.25 SC 4-3 in last week's first leg in Dhaka.

The run, as far as head coach Mario Lemos is concerned, mustn't stop as he is dreaming of Abahani playing the Inter-Zone final on home soil despite 4.25's formidable AFC Cup record on home soil.

Two superb goals from Nguyen Quang Hai looked to have gone to waste when Altymyrat Annadurdyyev’s equaliser brought the visitors level in the second half, but substitute Van Quyet netted the winning spot-kick in the 88th minute to give the Vietnamese champions a slight edge in the two-legged tie.

The result leaves the tie finely balanced ahead of next Tuesday’s return leg in Ashgabat, with the winners to advance to next month’s Inter-Zone Play-off Final.

It was a match which saw the lead being exchanged before Abahani looked to have secured a comfortable 4-2 win only for 4.25 to pull one back ahead of the return leg in Pyongyang next week

“It was a good match, although, not so good for my heart. It was full of ups and downs.

"When we started the match, our game plan was slightly different. We put more men at the back and put Sunday (Nwadialu) and (Kervens) Belfort upfront for the counter-attack, something that they did well.”

After the dust settled on an exciting tie, 4.25 were denied the draw that O Yun-son had targeted but the head coach said he wasn't too worried about the result.