HAGL wins the Thai Nguyen Four-Team Tournament after a dramatic derby match.
Hanoi FC and The Cong Viettel shared the points in a tense 2-2 draw marked by two red cards, indirectly securing the championship title for Hoang Anh Gia Lai thanks to goal difference.
The most dramatic scenario of the 2025 Thai Nguyen Four-Team Football Tournament unfolded in the final round. Despite a 0-1 defeat against PVF-CAND in the early match, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) officially clinched the championship after their two direct competitors, Hanoi FC and The Cong Viettel, drew in a fiery "Capital Derby".
A thrilling chase for the lead and a turning point brought about by young talents.
Entering the match aiming for all three points to clinch the title, Hanoi FC proactively controlled the game, relying on the playmaking abilities of midfielder Do Hung Dung. However, The Cong Viettel deployed an extremely disciplined counter-attacking style of play. The turning point came in the 35th minute when the Hanoi defense made a mistake with a misplaced pass, allowing 17-year-old talent Nguyen Hoang Khanh to decisively shoot diagonally into the net, opening the scoring 1-0 for The Cong Viettel.
In the second half, Hanoi FC's relentless pressure finally paid off. In the 64th minute, Nguyen Ha Anh Tuan unleashed a powerful long-range shot from outside the penalty area, bringing the game back to a tie. The back-and-forth battle intensified just 10 minutes later when substitute Nguyen Huu Thang received a pass from Danh Trung and executed a spectacular volley to give the military team a 2-1 lead.
Last-minute drama and a flurry of red cards.
Refusing to accept defeat, Hanoi FC launched a full-scale attack. In the 80th minute, following a precise assist from Hung Dung, striker Nguyen Van Tung cleverly beat the offside trap and finished neatly to equalize 2-2. The final minutes of the match became extremely tense with fierce clashes. The climax came in the 86th minute, when the referee was forced to issue two direct red cards to Nguyen Anh Tiep (Hanoi FC) and Nguyen Huu Thang (The Cong Viettel) after an on-field altercation.
HAGL crowned champions at a modern stadium.
The 2-2 draw remained until the final whistle. This result meant that Hanoi FC, The Cong Viettel, and PVF-CAND all finished the tournament with 4 points, the same as HAGL. However, the team from Pleiku won the championship thanks to a better goal difference than their competitors.
This tournament also marks the impressive operation of the new Thai Nguyen Provincial Stadium. With an investment of over 500 billion VND, this modern infrastructure not only provides a professional playing experience but also attracts great interest from the football fan community in the region, including Thai supporters.
The opening of Thai Nguyen Provincial Stadium is expected to boost high-level sporting activities in the locality, while also providing another quality option for national and international tournaments in the future.
