Football

HÀ NỘI — Goalkeeper and the goal pole helped FLC Thanh Hóa beat Sông Lam Nghệ An 1-0 in their north central derby match during the V.League’s fourth round on Sunday.

The only goal went to foreign striker Ofere Junior, after he missed many threatening opportunities throughout the match.

The Nigerian, who used to play for Lecce in Italian Serie A, headed home after receiving a free kick from teammate Văn Bình to the box 10 minutes after the interval.

Goalkeeper Phan Đình Vũ Hải, who successfully saved his net from Thanh Hóa’s earlier attempts, failed to rescue him this time.

Hoàng Đình Tùng nearly made it 2-0 for the hosts, but his close-range finish went slightly wide.

Sông Lam Nghệ An fought back, and they found some threatening chances, though their strikers either could not shoot accurately or their finishes were stopped by goalie talented Bùi Tiến Dũng, the No 1 goalie in the national U23 squad.

Even when Dũng could not do his job, the goal pole denied Văn Đức’s curling shot, which left all Thanh Hoá players behind.

At the post-match briefing, coach Romania Mihail of Thanh Hóa shared his happiness with reporters, saying that the victory was due to his players, especially Văn Bình and Tiến Thành, who played at their peak yesterday. He further said he was pleased to find these two players for the next round.

The Romanian coach noted that Sông Lam Nghệ An had good results when competing on the away fields. They also competed well in the AFC Cup. But in this match, his team had more of a chance, though having only one goal, but it was enough to win and he was satisfied with that.

On the visiting side, coach Nguyễn Đức Thắng said, “I praised the whole team’s spirit. Some players spent a long time on a flight from Jordan to come back home (after taking part in the Asian Cup qualifier last week) after playing in the AFC Cup. They had only one day to recover and might not find their best today. We have not been lucky, as many opportunities could not be converted into goals. It would be good if it finished with a draw.”

Thanh Hóa jumped to No 5 in the ranking with one game to spare, while Sông Lam Nghệ An fell to second from the bottom, with only one point.

In Hạ Long City, Quảng Ninh Coal defeated defending champions Quảng Nam 3-0.

Despite facing the tournament winners, Quảng Ninh chose to play in attack from the beginning. They faced challenges from the visitors, who strongly defended in their home field.

Though no goal was made in the first half, things changed dramatically after the break.

Joel Vinicius opened the score with a header. Six minutes later he made his double, after stealing a ball after misunderstanding a situation caused by Quảng Nam’s defenders.

Coach Hoàng Văn Phúc of Quảng Nam called his best striker from last season, Claudecir, to the field, hoping to make a change. But his decision did not work and Claudecir could not save the team.

Quảng Ninh even netted for the third time by Hải Huy near the end of the match.

Quảng Ninh then maintained strongly on top of the table, with 10 points after four matches, leaving their nearest rival Hà Nội FC behind with a three-point gap.

Hà Nội failed to narrowed the gap yesterday with the leader after their 1-1 draw with three-time champion Becamex Bình Dương.

Oseni Ganiyu Bolaji opened the scoring for visiting Hà Nội just 16 minutes after the first whistle.

Bình Dương found the leveler at the 50th mark by national striker Nguyễn Anh Đức, who netted the only goal for Việt Nam in a recent Asian Cup qualifier in Jordan.

In the field at Hòa Xuân Stadium, SHB Đà Nẵng beat Sài Gòn FC 3-2. Also, Cần Thơ made a bang when defeating hosts Hải Phòng 1-0 at the Lạch Tray. And in the latest match, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai won 2-0 over newly promoted Nam Định. — VNS