Quảng Nam jumped to the top of the V.League rankings after beating nine-man SHB Đà Nẵng 2-0 in their round 23 match yesterday.— Photo thethaovanhoa.vn

HÀ NỘI — Quảng Nam jumped to the top of the V.League rankings after beating nine-man SHB Đà Nẵng 2-0 in their round 23 match yesterday.

Quảng Nam have 42 points, one more than FLC Thanh Hóa, who had taken the lead after beating Long An 2-0 on Saturday.

It is the third time in this league that the central region team has led the tournament, and it is expected to win the trophy for the first time in history with only three matches left.

Quảng Nam are called ‘King of away ground’ as they have won seven games and drawn one in their 11 matches played away from home.

In the match yesterday, they had to play at Đà Nẵng’s holy land Hòa Xuân Stadium, where the hosts have rarely lost.

The visitors opened the score in the 54th minute when Dos Reis Claudecir converted a setting by Hữu Phước from the wing into an opening goal.

Claudecir doubled the score passing Đà Nẵng’s defenders to beat the goalie Nguyễn Thanh Bình for the second time at the 74th mark.

Earlier, Đà Nẵng’s striker Đỗ Merlo and Gramoz Kurtaj received two red cards and were sent off after they hit Quảng Nam’s players.

The shortage of players forced Đà Nẵng to play defensively, and they did not threaten Quảng Nam.

At the Bình Dương Province’s Gò Đậu Stadium, hosts Becamex Bình Dương were tied 1-1 with Cần Thơ.

Midfielder Ngô Tùng Quốc broke an off-side trap to open the score 20 minutes from the game.

Captain Nguyễn Anh Đức succeeded with a penalty to level the result 10 minutes to the end.

Both teams are close to the bottom of the league. One point each did not help them change their position.

Cần Thơ are second last with 19 points and still face relegation.

Former champions Bình Dương are third from the bottom with 23 points. They may have a play-off match, if there is no improvement in the last matches of the tournament.

The HCM City derby saw Sài Gòn FC beat HCM City FC 3-1, with all the goals being scored in the second half.

Lê Hoàng Thiên, Ngân Văn Đại and Đỗ Văn Thuận scored for the hosts, while Nguyễn Tuấn Anh headed to narrow the score for HCM City in the final seconds.

In the earlier matches on Saturday, Quảng Ninh Coal beat Hải Phòng 1-0, with the only goal going to Patiyo Tambwe. Sanna Khánh Hòa drew with former champions Sông Lam Nghệ An 1-1.

The teams will play the round 24 matches next weekend before the V.League is off for two weeks, and the players will be summoned for the 2019 Asian Cup qualification. — VNS