HÀ NỘI — Quảng Ninh beat champion candidates Thanh Hóa 4-3 in the 22nd round of the V.League 1 at Cẩm Phả Stadium in Quảng Ninh Province yesterday.

Hosts Quảng Ninh put pressure on the visitors as soon as the referee blew his whistle. However, in the 30th minute, Lê Văn Thắng headed the ball into the net to open the score for Thanh Hóa.

In the 43rd minute, goalkeeper Nguyễn Thanh Thắng of FLC Thanh Hoá made a serious error. Thắng was keeping the ball in the penalty area, which he passed on to striker Rod Dyachenko of Quảng Ninh, who was standing in front of Thắng. Taking this chance, Dyachenko levelled the score at 1-1.

After the break, Nguyễn Văn Bakel of Thanh Hóa made a mistake with Dương Văn Hoa of Quảng Ninh in the penalty area. Patiyo Tambwe easily achieved his feat in the penalty spot, raising the score to 2-1 for the hosts.

In the 85th minute, Hải Huy helped the hosts take a lead of 3-1 after receiving a skillful pass from his teammate Nghiêm Xuân Tú.

Four minutes later, Tambwe destroyed Thanh Hóa’s hopes with another goal.

However, in the extra time, Thắng and Pape Omar Feye narrowed the gap for Thanh Hóa making it 3-4.

In another match played yesterday, Long An tied with Sài Gòn 3-3.

On Saturday, Tam Kỳ Stadium in Quảng Nam Province welcomed a record of 15,000 fans to watch the match between hosts Quảng Nam FC and Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL). The game ended at 1-1.

“We are very excited because of the support of the fans. It was part of our good result in the rankings. We are No. 1 among 14 teams in the league. On the other hand, fans also love young talents HAGL. I hope that in the next matches, Quảng Nam will play better to draw fans,” said coach Hoàng Văn Phúc of Quảng Nam.

Taking full advantage of playing on their home soil, Quảng Nam dominated the match but missed many chances to take the lead.

“HAGL played the attack and defence very closely. This way of playing was effective with the performance of midfielder Henrique Marcelino Motta. Quảng Nam had several chances to score goals in the first half, but we couldn’t convert them into goals. In the second half, we landed in an impasse. We regret we gained only a point,” said Phúc.

Meanwhile, HAGL ended their four losses in a row when they received a point at Tam Kỳ Stadium. However, their joy didn’t last, as their key player, Nguyễn Công Phượng met with injury and was forced to leave the game after 10 minutes of competition.

It was also the first guidance match of HAGL’s acting coach Dương Minh Ninh and South Korean technical director Chung Hae Song.

HAGL have signed a two-year contract with 59-year-old coach Chung, with the aim of improving their rankings. Chung was chief assistant coach of the South Korean national team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. After that, Chung was assistant coach of Guus Hiddink’s South Korea national team competing in the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup.

Elsewhere, Sanna Khánh Hòa BVN beat SHB Đà Nẵng 3-2, and HCM City tied with Becamex Bình Dương 1-1. — VNS