Football

HÀ NỘI — Zarour Chaher scored a double to help Sanna Khánh Hoà beat HCM City 4-2 in the last match of the V.League’s first leg yesterday.

Chaher opened the score at the 19th minute, before teammate Sadio Diao made it 2-0 six minutes later.

It was 3-0 for the visitors by the end of the first half when striker Lâm Ti Phông netted from a shot to the high far corner of goalkeeper Đinh Xuân Việt.

Sanna Khánh Hòa’s players were very happy after their third goal and loosened their focus, which led to HCM City’s goal by Victor Ormazabal in the remaining time.

HCM City tried to fight back in the second half, but their attempts were not sharp enough to break Sanna Khánh Hoà’s defence.

While the forwards worked ineffectively. the defence made mistake.

Former national Trương Đình Luật fouled Nguyễn Hoàng Quốc Chí in the box. A penalty was given to the visiting side and Chaher was successful, to finalise 4-1.

The win lengthens Sanna Khánh Hoà’s non-losing streak to eight and pushed them to the third position with 23 points, behind defending champions Hà Nội FC and FLC Thanh Hoá

HCM City maintain at No 9 with 15 points.

In the other game, former champions Becamex Bình Dương drew 2-2 with Hải Phòng, which seemed to have been an unexpected result for both sides.

Bình Dương, earning one more point, remains the third team from the bottom.

Hải Phòng failed to grab the leading role after the first leg and fell one step to No 4.

Bình Dương’s goals belonged to captain Nguyễn Anh Đức and Sunday Emmanuel.

Đức has scored seven goals and leads the national scoring chart.

Nguyễn Vũ Hoàng Dương and Anthony Stevens scored to claim one point for the Hải Phòng side, who were considered a stronger team this match.

In other matches during the 13th rounds, Thanh Hoá drew Sài Gòn 1-1; Long An found their first point after 11 losses in a row in a 1-1 draw with Quảng Nam; SHB Đà Nẵng was tied 2-2 by Cần Thơ; and Hoàng Anh Gia Lai ended their losing streak with a 2-2 score in a match versus Quảng Ninh Coal.

Teams will have about two months to rest before returning for the second leg. During this time, young players are called up by the U20 team will take part in the World Cup in South Korea. — VNS