Striker Đỗ Merlo scored the only goal of the game for Saigon. Photo feed24h.net

Football

HCM CITY — Striker Đỗ Merlo scored the only goal of the game to help Sài Gòn beat Sông Lam Nghệ An (SLNA) 1-0 in the V.League 1 on Saturday.

The match was held at Thống Nhất Stadium in HCM City without fans due to a surge of community COVID-19 cases.

Without their strongest players, SLNA strategy was to defend deep and catch their opponents on the counter-attack. Japanese midfielder Daisuke Matsui, 39, shone in the opening exchanges for the home team.

In the first half, the home team's best chance came from a Woo Sang-ho close-range shot but he failed to find the back of the net. Meanwhile, the visitors were most dangerous on the left side thanks to good link-up play between Phan Văn Đức and Peter Samuel.

After the break, Saigon continued to push for the opening goal. Matsui's influence on the midfield did weaken, as the veteran struggled to keep up with the tempo.

In the 68th minute, some neat footwork by Argentinian Gaston  Đỗ Merlo left the SLNA defence grasping at straws and his powerful shot beat the keeper to finally break the deadlock and but the hosts one up.

As the clocked ticked the visitors desperately searched for an equaliser but rarely threatened to produce. Their best effort fell to Bruno Henrique, but his close-range header was off target.

Most of the fixtures were cancelled due to concerns over COVID-19, but in the only other game,  Thanh Hóa defeated Nam Định by three goals to nil. — VNS