Football

HÀ NỘI — FLC Thanh Hóa received their first loss in the V.League 1, as they lost to defending champions Hà Nội FC 1-2 in the 10th round at the Hàng Đẫy Stadium yesterday.

With this loss, Thanh Hóa still has 19 points to top the rankings, while the hosts Hà Nội FC returned to fourth place with 16 points.

Only in the first 16 minutes did the visitors had two chances to open the score, but they failed.

After that, Hà Nội responded strongly. They enjoyed a penalty kick in the 23rd minute, however Samson shot the ball, striking the horizontal bar.

In the 33rd minute, fans of Hà Nội FC showed their regret as Gonzalo Damian Marronkle passed the ball to the vertical bar.

Attack but no effect. The hosts had their first loss in the 45th minute, when Pape Omar put his header past the goalie of Hà Nội FC to open the score for the visitors.

After the break, Hà Nội played attack continuously to level the score. And it was in the 80th minute when they narrowed the gap of 1-1 with the goal by Nguyễn Thành Chung.

In the 88th minute, Quốc Phương scored the other goal for Thanh Hóa, with the encouragement of thousands of fans, but the referee did not recognize this goal.

Thanh Hóa’s coach Ljupko Petrovic reacted fiercely to the referee’s decision, and he was ordered to leave the field.

In extra time, Thanh Hóa’s Đinh Tiến Thành shot the ball to his team’s goal to help Hà Nội win 2-1.

In other matches played yesterday, Quảng Ninh Coal beat Becamex Bình Dương 2-0 and SHB Đà Nẵng crushed Long An  2-1.

Elsewhere, Hải Phòng defeated HCM City 1-0 , Sông Lam Nghệ An won over Hoàng Anh Gia Lai 2-0, and Khánh Hòa tied with Sài Gòn FC 0-0. — VNS