Hoàng Vũ Samson celebrates his goal in the game between Thanh Hóa and Phố Hiến FC in the National Cup on Monday. — Photo doisongvietnam.vn

HÀ NỘI — Thanh Hóa defeated Phố Hiến 2-1 away from home in the preliminary round of the National Cup on Monday at the PVF Centre in Hưng Yên Province.

The visiting side previously defeated the hosts in the V.League 1 promotion play-off last year.

The match was played under high tension and the scoring was opened by Thanh Hóa through veteran striker Hoang Vũ Samson in the 57th minute.

The drama was ratcheted up when Phố Hiến equalised in the 89th minute via Lâm Thuận. However, there was still time in the 95th minute for Đình Tùng to score and send Thanh Hóa through.

After the match, striker Samson came in for high praise from his Italian coach Fabio Lopez.

“Samson is an excellent player, he not only played well today but has shown it for years. He opened the score and helped us break the deadlock in this match. Today, we didn't start very well because of nervousness, but when it came to the second half, everything was fine and we finally won. We had many young players so it took time to grow up,” said Lopez.

“We will try in every match because in football we don't know anything in advance. Not being able to confirm whether the V.League 1 or the National Cup’s more important, we always aim to win every match," Lopez added.

In other matches on Monday, Viettel beat Khánh Hoà 1-0, Hải Phòng lost to Đồng Tháp 3-1, Bình Phước won Đắc Lắc 2-0 and Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh bested Tây Ninh 2-1.

After more than two months of interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnamese professional football returned with the preliminary round of the National Cup over the weekend. All 10 matches were held with fans in attendance.

Following the preliminary round, the teams will continue to compete in the quarter-finals with eight matches taking place on May 30-31. — VNS