Football

HÀ NỘI – Hoàng Anh Gia Lai ended their winless streak yesterday with a 3-2 victory over Long An during the V.League’s round 10 on their home turf in Pleiku City.

The team of young players, trained by their own centre, quickly went ahead with three goals during the first 20 minutes.

Vũ Văn Thanh needed 14 minutes to check the visitors’ skills before he netted a perfect goal to open the score.

This goal followed a mistake by Long An’s French striker Anzite Touadere Clovis Franklin, who gave the ball to Thanh in the box and the 20-year-old defender did not waste this chance.

Brazilian forward Moreira Jesuino Osmar Francisco then doubled it after two minutes

Masaaki Ideguchi sent a ball to the penalty area and Francisco sprinted to the box, leaving behind goalie Nguyễn Huỳnh Quốc Cường and two defenders to score his fifth goal from an angle.

Trần Minh Vuơng managed his ball after a pass from the right wing, and he scored the third goal for the host with an easy kick into an empty net.

Long An narrowed the result in the last second of the first set.

The visitors had an 18m free kick, and captain Huỳnh Quang Thanh’s kick found Wasiu Akanni Sunday’s head and went to the net. It was so sudden that keeper Tô Vĩnh Lợi failed to have time to block it.

Lợi, who played well the entire game, however, made a mistake at the 78th minute. The national goalie could not catch the ball after Lê Văn Tân’s straight shot. It came to Nguyễn Tài Lộc, who made an easy tap in.

Hoàng Anh Gia Lai jumped out of the SOS area to No 10 with 11 points. They will next meet Sanna Khánh Hòa at the sandy beach of Nha Trang City.

Long An, meanwhile, became one of two bottom teams with only eight points after 10 matches. They will host former champions SHB Đà Nẵng.

Wearing their lucky jerseys yesterday, Hà Nội T&T failed to extend their winning streak. They were stopped by host Cần Thơ, suffering a humiliating loss of 0-3.

The purple uniform brought Hà Nội T&T four wins in a row, but it did not work when it was Cần Thơ’s Oseni Ganiyu Bolaji’s day.

The Nigierian striker opened the score very early, only six minutes after the whistle. He doubled 30 minutes after the interval, and completed his hat trick in the additional time.

In a match in Lạch Tray Stadium, leader Hải Phòng maintained their seven-point gap with the nearest rival, after beating Sanna Khánh Hòa 2-0.

Despite struggling from the start of the match as Khánh Hòa tried to play defense, Hải Phòng gradually found their form and picked up goals in the second half.

Nguyễn Đình Bảo netted the opener from a perfect close-range header at the 43rd minute. 

He then gave a ball to Nguyễn Hồng Phong whose narrowed angle shot found the left corner of goalie Đặng Văn Lâm. It was Phong’s first goal this season and he was the seventh player to score for Hải Phòng.

In the next round, the leading team will play FLC Thanh Hóa, who were defeated on Saturday 1-3 by newcomer Sài Gòn FC.

Thanh Hóa then dropped to No 4, giving third place to Sài Gòn.

In another match on Saturday, two former winners, Sông Lam Nghệ An and SHB Đà Nẵng, shared one point each after their 1-1 draw at Chi Lăng Stadium. -- VNS