July 2, 3 & 4, 2022
Topenland Binh Dinh 1-1 vs Hoang Anh Gia Lai ( att : 16,000 )
Hai Phong 3-1 Sai Gon ( att : 4,000 )
Ho Chi Minh City 1-0 Thanh Hoa ( att : 4,000 )
SHB Da Nang 2-1 Ha Noi ( att : 5,000 )
Nam Dinh 0-1 Becamex Binh Duong ( att : 10,000 )
Viettel 0-1 Hong Linh Ha Tinh ( att : 2,000 )
Song Lam Nghe An Bye
Topenland Binh Dinh 1-1 vs Hoang Anh Gia Lai
Topenland Binh Dinh are based in the coastal city of Quy Nhon, which is nearly 1,100 km from Hanoi, and they got back in the top flight after winning V.League 2 in 2020. They were in 8th place when the 2021 season was terminated.
Hoang Ang Gia Lai ( HAGL ) play in Pleiku in the Gai Lai province in Central Highlands district of Vietnam, 1,100km south of Hanoi, and around 160km inland west from Quy Nhon. They won the league in 2003 and 2004, and finished in 7th place in 2020, but were top of the league when the 2021 season came to a premature end. This entitled them to play in the 2022 AFC Champions League Group Stages where all the matches in their group were played in Hanoi. They achieve a 1-0 victory and 1-1 draw with FC Sydney and a 1-1 draw with South Korean giants Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, but two losses to Yokohama Marinos and one to Jeonbuk saw them finish third in their group.
Binh Dinh got off to an ideal start after 19 minutes when ex-Hai Phong Jamaican international Jermie Lynch crossed to beyond the far post for Vietnam international striker Ha Duc Chinh ( 18 caps ) to turn back across the goal for Pham Van Thanh to finish at the opposite post, ahead of the covering defender.
However, the game took an important turn in the 40th minute when a defensive error lead to Binh Dinh keeper Vu Tuyen Quang bringing down HAGL national striker Nyugen Van Taon ( 42 caps ) outside his area, and although there appeared to be at least two covering defenders, the Binh Dinh keeper was shown the red card.
HAGL dominated thereafter, although Brazilian striker Rafaelson, formerly with Da Nang and Nam Dimh, nearly scored an outrageous second goal for Binh Dinh, but his 70 yard effort drifted narrowly wide with the HAGL keeper helplessly well off his line.
With around 10 minutes remaining Ly Cong Hoang Anh forced an impressive diving save from the HAGL keeper, but eventually the numbers told and Brazilian forward Washington Brandao was left free at the back post to head home the equalizer with 5 minutes remaining.
Hai Phong 3-1 Sai Gon
Hai Phong came from the city of the same name, which is the third largest in Vietnam and is 120km east of Hanoi. They are one of the oldest clubs in the country, but their last title win came in 1988. They were in 13th place when the 2021 season was halted but were unbeaten so far in 2022.
Sai Gon play in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly the capital of South Vietnam, and jointly run a football academy with FC Tokyo. They came 3rd in 2020 but were 2nd from bottom in 2021 and win-less in 2022 going into this game.
Playing in torrential rain, Sai Gon, in a fetching all pink outfit but with the gold numbers hard to identify, missed a couple of half chances. However, the bad weather forced a temporary suspension of play with just over 5 minutes of the first half remaining, and the break seemed to disrupt the visitors as upon the resumption they conceded two goals in quick succession to go into interval 0-2 behind.
First, keeper Pham Von Phong made a complete hash of dealing with a floated free-kick, resulting in the ball hitting Hai Phong midfielder Trieu Viet Hung on the leg and going into the unguarded net, and then Nyguen Quoc Long clinically swept home from 8 yards. Unfortunately for the experienced ex-Vietnam centre-back he was a defending, and it was a fabulous own goal !
Hai Phong squandered chances to extend their lead, before Jamaican Rimario Gordon, now with his fifth Vietnamese club, was left unmarked to power home a header in the 60th minute. Veteran naturalised Argentinian striker Gaston Merlo hit the bar with a close range header for Sai Gon, but they did get a consolation goal 5 minutes from the end, when ex-Farense and Varzim Portuguese midfielder Andre Viera curled a free kick from close to 30 yards over the wall and into the bottom corner.
The bad weather was presumably a major factor behind the low crowd of 4,000, as Hai Phong attracted 17,500 for the previous home fixture !
Ho Chi Minh City 1-0 Thanh Hoa
Ho Chi Minh City have won the league 4 times although the last was in 2002 and they were in 11th place when the 2021 season came to a halt.
Thanh Hoa is 150km south of the capital Hanoi, and so had a journey of over 1,500km for this fixture. They finished second in both 2017 and 2018 and were fifth when the 2021 season came to a stop. The coach of Thanh Hoa is Ljupko Petrovic, who was in charge of the Red Star Belgrade side that won the 1990/91 European Cup, but he is now 75 years old and was regularly upset with the referee in this game.
The only goal of the match came in the 72nd minute from naturalised Nigerian striker Vu Samson, who is the all-time record scorer in the V.League with over 200 goals, getting ahead of his marker to bundle home a cross from 6 yards. Samsom used to play for Thanh Hoa
SHB Da Nang 2-1 Ha Noi
Da Nang is 760km south of Hanoi and 610km north west of Ho Chi Minh on the South China Sea coast, and is a popular destination for tourists. The SHB in the name stands for Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint-Stock Bank, who are the owners of the club. They have won the league title three times, the last time in 2012.
For Ha Noi it was a second consecutive away game following the 1-1 draw at Nam Dinh featured in these diaries.
It took just 6 minutes for Da Nang to take the lead. Ha Noi keeper Nguyen Van Cong misjudged a cross from the left wing by Phan Van Long, and Pham Dinh Duy bundled the ball over the line at the second attempt.
Ha Noi were fortunate to avoid a red card in the 14th minute when after another impressive pass from Van Long, last man Do Duy Minh looked to have brought down Nigerian striker Osaguona to prevent him racing clear on goal, but the referee ignored the appeals for a foul.
Three minutes before half-time Van Long scored a goal his eye-catching performance merited, being given space on the angle of the Ha Noi penalty area to curl a delightful effort just inside the far post which the keeper could only stand and admire.
After not being at the races, Ha Noi stirred and scrambled defending prevented Serbian striker Vladimir Siladi grabbing a goal back just before the break, but the visitors did get on the score sheet in the 57th minute when Nguyen Van Quyet was given time to take a touch, then drill home from a couple of yards inside the area. Ha Noi should have been back on level terms five minutes later when a ball over the top found striker Pham Tuen Hai just inside the home area, but he blazed his shot miles over the bar under little pressure.
The final ten minutes of the match were quite frantic, Siladi’s attempt from the edge of the area found the side netting, but French substitute Aboubakar Kone could have sown up the match for Da Nang, but his shot hit both posts before rebounding to safety. As the game moved into added on time, Van Quyet ran onto a flicked on header, but under pressure from a defender was only able to shoot directly at the Da Nang keeper, who made the block.
Nam Dinh 0-1 Becamex Binh Duong
Becamex play in Thu Dau Mot, some 20km north of Ho Chi Minh City and are backed by one of the largest corporations in Vietnam. They have won the league 4 times, the last of which was in 2015. After their mid-week draw with Ha Noi, Nam Dinh were still searching for their first victory of the season.
Nam Dinh had the best chance of a cagey first half when an astute through ball from Ha Long Nguyen saw three attackers beat the offside trap. An unselfish ball was played across the face of the penalty area, and Dinh Son Nguyen looked about to have a simple side-footed finish when Marcio Marques selfishly took the ball off his toes, only to embarrassingly mis-kick enabling the ball to be cleared.
The winning goal for the visitors came 12 minutes from the end. As Nam Dinh pressed for the opening goal, a lightning counter attack saw Vu Tu Van, who had impressed the previous time Becamex were featured in these diaries, run from inside his own half, calmly round the goalkeeper, and then shoot into the roof of the net past the covering defender on the line.
Nam Dinh had a great chance to save the game in the last minute, when they were awarded a penalty after defender Thanh Long Nguyen’s sliding block saw the ball strike his arm. Marcio Marques’ miserable day was complete when his poor spot kick was parried by the diving keeper, and the dyed yellow moustachioed Brazilian headed the rebound over the bar.
Viettel vs Hong Linh Ha Tinh
Viettel were formerly the team of the Army but are now sponsored by Vietnam’s telecommunications company ( although this is apparently run by the Ministry of Defence ! ). They and their predecessor, The Cong, have won the V.League a record 6 times, and are the current champions, having won the title in 2020. They were in second place when the 2021 season was aborted and entered the 2022 AFC Cup group stages, where wins over Young Elephants of Laos ( 5-1 ), Phnom Penh Crowns of Cambodia ( 1-0 ) and Hougang United of Singapore ( 5-2 ) saw them top the group. Viettel will now play Malaysian side Kuala Lumper City in the Zone Semi-Final in Hanoi on August 10th.
Hong Linh Ha Tinh ( HLHT ) are based in the city of Ha Tinh, 360km south of Hanoi. They finished 8th in 2020 after being promoted the year before, and were 8th in 2021.
Viettel dominated this match and will be wondering how they lost. In the first half they saw Hoang Minh Nguyen send a curling left-footed shot onto bar from 20 yards, Hoang Duc Nguyen’s nice finish from Pedro Paulo’s first touch ruled out for a marginal offside, and Pedro steer a header narrowly wide.
The pattern continued early in the second half as Hoang Minh Nguyen ran clear but when the HLHT keeper recklessly charged off his line, he could only put the ball inches wide. HLHT’s only response was playmaker Thanh Trung Dinh’s left footed free-kick over wall and against bar from just outside the penalty area.
Viettel still dominated, and in the 68th minute a flowing move found substitute Manh Dung Nham, whose good first touch gave him half a yard over his marker, but his half volley went over bar. The game’s controversial moment occurred in the 74th minute. Manh Dung Nham’s shot was going wide but found Brazilian forward Magno a couple of yards out from goal. He should have scored but didn’t make a clean contact, but despite this, the ball looked to be well over the line before cleared. There is no VAR in Vietnam, so no goal was awarded, but having said that the TV replay showed Magno was offside with only one defender behind him, so the goal wouldn’t have stood anyway with VAR.
Almost predictably, HLHT committed daylight robbery by scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute. Thanh Trung Dinh’s corner was met at the near post by Brazilian Jean Almeida, whose header went through the legs of the defender on the line into the back of the net.
No comments:
Post a Comment