Football

Coach Vũ Hồng Việt (centre) of Nam Định FC congratulates his players after beating Đà Nẵng 2-1 in their V.League 1 match in Nam Định on Saturday. — Photo thanhnien.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vũ Hồng Việt has the perfect start as head coach of Nam Định seeing his team come from behind to beat Đà Nẵng 2-1 on Saturday at home in Thiên Trường Stadium.

Hoàng Minh Tâm opened the scoring for the visitors in the 23rd minute.

Phan Văn Hiếu and Mai Xuân Quyết netted in the second half to secure Nam Định's win after two recent defeats.

"I love short ball and playing in a defensive style. I just changed a little to the line-up and added some exercises so that players will follow the new formation smoothly," said excited Việt who has been in charge of the team for less than a week.

"We just had several days working together for this match. We conceded a goal in the first half but the players did well, sticking to our tactics. I told them I liked how we were playing and believed we would get goals in the second half. And I am extremely happy with the win," said national coach Park Hang-seo's coach assistant.

Việt said Nam Định players had played in the past too tense, leading to many losses and increasing the pressure to finally get a win.

"Since I came here, I asked them to relax in their daily living, training and competing activities. They have been encouraged to speak up, smile and even shout loud to push their spirit," Việt said.

The 43-year-old coach said he has learned a lot from South Korean Park in managing and coaching players and he would apply this to his club.

Nam Định now have 13 points putting them up to 11th in the ranking. They will travel south to face HCM City FC in the next match on September 4.

Meanwhile, Đà Nẵng will host second-placed Hải Phòng at their holy land of Hòa Xuân Stadium.

In another match on Saturday, Sài Gòn FC ended their losing streak with a 3-2 win over Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh FC at their Thống Nhất Stadium.

Matheus da Silva opened the scoring for the host in the 17th minute.

Veteran striker Đỗ Merlo scored an own goal 10 minutes later but redeemed himself to score and got in 2-1 for Sài Gòn at the break.

Sài Gòn's Nguyễn Hữu Sơn struck an unstoppable freekick to make it 3-1 10 minutes after the break.

Janclesio Almeida Santos narrowed the lead to just one for Hà Tĩnh 10 minutes later but they couldn't find an equaliser.

It was the second win of the season, both against Hà Tĩnh, for Sài Gòn who stay bottom of the table.

But the win helped coach Phùng Thanh Phương feel more confident ahead of the visit to former champions Hoàng Anh Gia Lai on September 3.

"We are happy because we earn points to push on. Our spirit is up after win too," Phương said.

"My players are confident and ready for the next game against Hoàng Anh Gia Lai. We will fight hard to complete our mission."

Meanwhile, coach Nguyễn Thành Công of Hà Tĩnh said it was a sad result for his side but the journey was still long enough and Hà Tĩnh could do better.

Hà Tĩnh will not have a fixture in the next round of games. —VNS