Cong Phuong missed a penalty; Lee Nguyen scored two assists

Cong Phuong missed the penalty kick

Referee Tran Ngoc Nho's decision to award HAGL a penalty at a sensitive moment was met with fierce opposition from Binh Dinh players and coaching staff. Center back Adriano Schmidt, who was accused of fouling Minh Vuong, clashed with Mauricio Barbosa before Van Thanh defeated Van Lam on the 11m mark to seal the match.

Binh Dinh are desperate for points to compete with Hanoi for the championship. If they win, the gap between them and the top team will be only one point. After being equalized, the visitors rushed forward but there was too little time left for them to score more goals. After the final whistle, Binh Dinh surrounded the referee to protest. For this action, coach Duc Thang received a red card.

HAGL is having a disappointing streak of matches. Photo: Zing

This was the second penalty Binh Dinh had to endure in this match. In the first half, Ha Duc Chinh's foul on Van Thanh put the away team in danger of conceding a goal. But Cong Phuong's panenka-style penalty was read by Van Lam. In the second penalty, Van Lam also correctly guessed Van Thanh's intention, but could not block the low and powerful kick from his teammate on the Vietnamese national team.

With the draw, Binh Dinh is still 3 points behind Hanoi and has played one more match in the context of V-League 2022 with four more rounds. In the next round, coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team will visit Viettel while HAGL will host the relegation-fighting team Nam Dinh.

Lee Nguyen scored two assists

In the important match of the relegation race, both the home team Thanh Hoa and Ho Chi Minh City played tightly, creating few quality attacks. In the 45th minute, the breakthrough came when Thanh Hoa took a corner kick from the left. Thanh Long crossed the ball into the penalty area, but goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung chose the wrong spot, allowing Gustavo Costa to head the ball into an empty net to open the score. This was the fourth time Bui Tien Dung made a mistake leading to a loss in the V-League this season.

But Bui Tien Dung was lucky not to become the "sinner" today, when his senior Lee Nguyen and two foreign players shone to help Ho Chi Minh City win in the second half.

In the 48th minute, Lee Nguyen reached out to touch the ball sensitively for Daniel Green to run up from the left wing, then curled the ball from more than 20m away to equalize. The goalkeeper of Ho Chi Minh City Club ran from home field to celebrate with his teammates.

Lee Nguyen, with 2 assists, was the important inspiration that helped Ho Chi Minh City win the comeback. Photo: Dat Linh

In the extra time, Lee Nguyen dribbled the ball in the middle, then cut to the right for Bygrave to finish with one touch near the 16m50 line, defeating Buu Ngoc. While the HCMC players were extremely excited both on the field and in the technical area, the camera quickly panned to Bui Tien Dung and recorded the scene of this goalkeeper breathing a sigh of relief.

Winning 2-1, Ho Chi Minh City rose to 10th place on the scoreboard with 21 points. The team is two points ahead of Nam Dinh and Saigon, but has played two and one more matches, respectively.

Rangnick once advised Man Utd to buy Haaland

"Man Utd have never wanted a transfer list. But even if it didn't exist, it's clear that the club needs to add to many positions. That's why we've discussed players like Josko Gvardiol or Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig. Those are realistic targets," Rangnick revealed to German newspaper BILD.

Haaland scored a hat-trick against Man Utd in the Manchester derby on October 2. Photo:Reuters

Man Utd appointed Rangnick in November 2021, after sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The German strategist was expected to salvage the sinking ship at Old Trafford. However, Man Utd ended the Premier League season with the lowest number of points in the club's history: 58 points.

Rangnick believes that the inability to strengthen the squad in the January 2021 transfer window is the reason why he could not help the "Red Devils" enter the top four. "We also considered recruiting Alvaro Morata, Luis Diaz, Dusan Vlahovic and even Erling Haaland when they were still available. But at that time, Man Utd decided to rebuild the team under a new coach," Rangnick revealed.

Apart from Morata, the other players mentioned by Rangnick all performed well in the second half of the 2021-2022 season. Diaz joined Liverpool and immediately took over the starting position. Competition from the Colombian striker was part of the reason for Sadio Mane's departure.

Vlahovic went to Juventus and became a key scorer. Gvardiol and Nkunku shone at RB Leipzig, increasing their value. But perhaps the most unfortunate case is Haaland, who moved to Man City in the summer and has scored 22 goals in 15 Premier League and Champions League games for the Etihad Stadium team.