Hoàng Anh Gia Lai’s Lương Xuân Trường (right) celebrates a goal in the V.League 1 match between Hoàng Anh Gia Lai and Thanh Hoá on Sunday. Hoàng Anh Gia Lai beat Thanh Hoá 3-2. —Photo vietnamnet.vn
HÀ NỘI — Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) took a wild win on the road over rivals Thanh Hóa in the 18th week of V. League 1 action on Sunday by a score of 3-2.
The game was held at Thanh Hóa Stadium.
Thanh Hóa piled on the pressure from the whistle, but it was HAGL that carved out a promising early chance in the fourth minute.
Facing Thanh Hóa’s goalkeeper Lương Bá Sơn, Trần Minh Vương saw his shot saved from close range.
Lương Xuân Trường, Nguyễn Tuấn Anh, Vương and Nguyễn Văn Toàn combined well for the visiting side but could not find the finishing touch.
Midfielder Lương Xuân Trường finally opened the scoring for the visitors in the 27th minute with a dipping free kick from the top of the penalty area.
In the last minute of the first half, Jamaican striker Rimario Gordon passed three HAGL defenders but his strike wasn't enough to beat goalkeeper Lê Văn Trường.
But he made up for the miss just a few minutes into the second half when heading home the equaliser for the hosts. The ball looked as though it may have been cleared just in time, but the referee ruled it had crossed the line for a goal.
Trường completed his double for HAGL through another free kick on 70 minutes.
Thanh Hóa were awarded a penalty kick 14 minutes later when Gordon was brought down in the box, and midfielder Gramoz Kurtaj stepped up to level the score at 2-2 with just a few minutes left to play.
HAGL were given a penalty kick of their own in the final minute of regulation time but a good save saw Kim Bong-jin fail to take advantage for his club.
Following the miss the game looked certain to end in a draw but mere moments later Vương met a low cross from Toàn and fired home from close range to give HAGL the victory.
Elsewhere on Sunday, SHB Đà Nẵng crushed Sài Gòn 4-1 and Nam Định beat Sông Lam Nghệ An 2-0. Sanna Khánh Hòa and Than Quảng Ninh drew 1-1, as did Viettel and QNK Quảng Nam. — VNS
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