HCMC's Huỳnh Kesley Alves celebrates his goal during the match on Friday at Hàng Đẫy Stadium in Hà Nội. — Photo courtesy of thethao247.vn

HÀ NỘI — HCM City FC knocked Viettel out of the National Cup on Friday night on penalties after a dramatic 3-3 draw, putting the southern team into the quarter-finals.

The game was held at Viettel’s Hàng Đẫy Stadium in Hà Nội, but the away side opened the scoring through Huỳnh Kesley Alves early on.

Undeterred, the home side leveled through national team midfielder Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng on 36 minutes, leaving the score 1-1 going into the break.

The second period was a whirlwind, with Alves and new signing Izzy Akinade scoring for the away team, while Bruno Cantanhede and Nguyễn Việt Phong netted for Viettel.

After normal time, both teams went to penalty shoot-out at 3-3.

HCM City defeated Viettel 4-3 on penalties and moved on to the quarter-finals.

An earlier round of 16 match also finished with penalties, as Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) knocked out Quảng Ninh after a 2-2 normal time draw.

Playing at home, Quảng Ninh jumped out to the lead as Nguyễn Hải Huy’s deflected shot found its way into the net.

But the lead didn’t last long, with national team star forward Nguyễn Văn Toàn of HAGL scoring a superb goal to level the tie.

In the second half, both teams missed chance after chance, and the match seemed destined for penalties, until Quảng Ninh’s Giang Trần Quách Tân was fouled in the box. Rod Dyachenko stepped up and slotted home what seemed like the winner.

However, HAGL wouldn’t go out that easily, and equalised through forward Chevaughn Walsh’s late, late strike.

The away side would go on to take the penalty shoot-out 5-4.

Earlier, Nam Định became the first team to move on to quarter finals after beating Bình Phước 3-0 at home. — VNS