Nguyễn Quang Tình of Sông Lam Nghệ An (right) passes Viettel's Bùi Tiến Dũng to score the opener at the Vinh Stadium on Friday. — Photo baonghean.vn
HÀ NỘI — Sông Lam Nghệ An beat 10-man Viettel 3-1 in their V.League 1 match on Friday in Vinh City.
The victory ended the hosts's losing streak. For nearly a month, Sông Lam Nghệ An have not won, losing four and drawing one.
The team also jumped to fourth in the league with 26 points, just three points off the top three.
After 20 minutes, the home side broke the deadlock when midfielder Nguyễn Quang Tình left Viettel captain Bùi Tiến Dũng in no-man’s land to tap into the net.
Viettel rearranged their team and created more chances but goalkeeper Trần Nguyên Mạnh stood firm.
Viettel however suffered a big loss when defender Janclesio Almeida Santos received a second yellow card and was sent off at the end of the first half.
Sông Lam Nghệ An used their player advantage and scored a second goal thanks to midfielder Hồ Tuấn Tài.
The second half saw more attempts from the visiting side. Bruno Cunha Cantanhede and Việt Phong were denied by Manh.
But as they pushed to get back in the game Viettel conceded the third goal with four minutes to go after centre-back Damir Memović jumped highest to nod home from a corner kick.
It was until the last minute that Viettel scored their only goal. Cantanhede was fauled in the box and the visitors were given a penalty that the Brazilian striker netted in.
On Sunday, Hà Nội FC will play Becamex Bình Dương for the second time in four days at the Hàng Đẫy Stadium.
The hosts beat Bình Dương in their AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal first leg match 1-0 on Wednesday.
Hà Nội are in their peak as the sit second in the ranking.
But the hosts will not have key striker Ganiyu Bolayi Oseni who just had a knee surgery and needs several weeks to recover.
On the other side, ninth-placed Bình Dương are expected to have their best forward Nguyễn Anh Đức back in action after injury.
Hà Nội have been in better form in their last five V.League matches as they won two and drew three. Bình Dương won one, drew one and lost two. Their head-to-head record also saw Hà Nội on top with 11 wins against seven of Bình Dương.
In the V.League's first period match they tied 2-2 at the Gò Đậu on May 5.
Nam Định vs Hoàng Anh Gia Lai is also a main match to watch over the weekend.
Nam Định had good record playing on home losing one, drawing one, but winning seven at the Thiên Trường Stadium.
Visiting Hoàng Anh Gia Lai have found their form with three undefeated matches including two wins in a row.
Striker Nguyễn Văn Toàn is the best local scorer with nine goals. Midfielder Lương Xuân Trường just produced two goals from free-kicks that are in short list of best goals of July and midfielder Trần Minh Vương is netting regularly after months of silence.
Other matches this weekend are Hải Phòng vs Sài Gòn at Lạch Tray; Quảng Nam hosting Thanh Hóa at Tam Kỳ; Đà Nẵng visiting Quảng Ninh and leading HCM City playing bottom-placed Sanna Khánh Hòa. — VNS
OVietnam