Football

HÀ NỘI — FLC Thanh Hóa easily defeated Sông Lam Nghệ An (SLNA) 2-0 in the first round of V.League 1 play in the central province of Thanh Hóa yesterday.

Taking full advantage of playing on their home turf and with improved physical strength, Thanh Hóa played attack since the first minutes of the match.

However, no goals were scored in the first half.

In the 46^th  minute, midfielder Phạm Mạnh Hùng of SLNA made a serious error when he shot the ball into his team’s goal to help Thanh Hóa enjoy an unexpected goal.

In the 65^th minute, after receiving a pass from his teammates, Iheruome Uche doubled the score to 2-0 for the hosts.

With this win, Thanh Hóa footballers receive VNĐ500million (US$21,700) from the team’s leaders.

In other matches, HCM City tied with Quảng Nam 1-1, Hải Phòng lost to Sài Gòn 0-1, while Becamex Bình Dương also lost to Sanna Khánh Hòa 0-1.

On Saturday, Hà Nội FC defeated Quảng Ninh Coal 3-2 at Hàng Đẫy Stadium.

Nguyễn Quang Hải opened the score for Hà Nội in the second minute. Just two minutes later, Phạm Nguyên Sa levelled the score for Quảng Ninh.

The game then became more interesting, when the two teams attacked continuously to attempt to score more goals. In the 30^th minute, Victor Omazabal helped Hà Nội to a lead of 2-1.

After the break, Hải scored a penalty kick, to raise the score for the capital team to 3-1.

In the 64^th minute, Giang Trần Quách Tân narrowed the gap for the visitors Quảng Ninh to 2-3.

In the two remaining matches, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai was defeated 0-1 by SHB Đà Nẵng, while Long An won Cần Thơ 2-1. — VNS