Goals from striker Nguyen Anh Duc and midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang helped Becamex Binh Duong sink Ha Noi T&T 2-0 in a rain-soaked 18th-round V-League match yesterday.— Photo dantri

HCM CITY (VNS) — Goals from striker Nguyen Anh Duc and midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang helped Becamex Binh Duong sink Ha Noi T&T 2-0 in a rain-soaked 18th-round V-League match yesterday.

Playing at home at the Go Dau Stadium, Duc took advantage of a mistake by the T&T defence to break the deadlock in the 66th minute with a low shot into the far corner of the goal.

Hoang killed off the defending champions after slotting home in stoppage time.

With three points from the victory, Binh Duong have 35 points and are on par with T&T (who have played one game less), but remain second on goal difference.

"If it did not rain, the match would have been very exciting. but we completely deserved the win today," Binh Duong coach Nguyen Thanh Son said at the post-match conference.

"The win helps us cancel the gap with T&T and there are still six games to go. We will just take one game at a time," he said.

Phan Thanh Hung, T&T's coach, praised the home team.

"Binh Duong played a good match today. They defended very well. The rain did affect our passing game. The match could have been different if it hadn't rained.

"We still have seven matches to play and there are other teams (in the running), not just Binh Duong," Hung said.

The match got off to a sluggish start, with the visitors, who started the match with a 4-4-2 formation, putting on a better display in the first 20 minutes.

They settled into their passing game and caused some chaos in the box, but a solid and concentrated defence helped Binh Duong keep the opponent's strikers from finding space and time to take a shot.

But from the 24th minute, the game turned in the home team's favour when it began pouring. The home team, with more power and pace, began bullying their opponents, who had difficulty in handing balls on a slippery surface.

Binh Duong tried to exploit T&T's right wing, which had local players with modest power and pace, and Dieng, Kesley, Moese Oloya and Hoang outpaced T&T's defenders so many times that Hung had to move Hector Vaghaun to that wing.

The only scoring chance of the half came for the home team as midfielder Le Tan Tai burst down the left flank and crossed the ball in front of the goal. Kesley stretched to get to the ball, but his touch was not strong enough to find the net.

T&T were able to raise their game in the second half and almost opened the scoring in six minutes, Bui Van Hieu's freekick skimming the crossbar.

The home team stepped their intensity and created more chances, but T&T's defend stood firm until the 66th minute when Nguyen Quoc Long's clearance into the path of Duc, and from 10m out, the national striker fired a powerful shot to beat keeper Duong Hong Son.

T&T fought back and got some chances, but Binh Duong's nerves were finally settled in the first minute of stoppage time when substitute Nguyen Tang Tuan outpaced T&T defenders in a solo run and passed to Oloya, who tapped the ball to Hoang with only custodian Son to beat.

In other matches of the day, Thanh Hoa beat Hai Phong 1-0 and Hoang Anh Gia Lai lost 4-2 to Dong Nai. — VNS