Not convinced by the referee, HAGL admits 'valid goal'; Ronaldo 'powers down', Al Nassr loses steam in the championship race
HAGL had a goal disallowed in the 0-1 loss to Ha Tinh; Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates ran out of steam in the championship race with Al Ittihad and Al Hila. Those are the sports highlights of the past 24 hours.
Hero Nguyen Filip
Nguyen Filip's leg saved CAHN Club from losing a goal in the first minute of extra time.
When the clock at Hang Day Stadium entered the first minute of extra time, everyone seemed to hold their breath. A lightning counterattack by Ho Chi Minh City, the ball came to Ngoc Long's feet, his shot to the far corner seemed to bring the decisive goal for the away team. But at that moment, Nguyen Filip's foot still managed to save the CAHN Club by a hair's breadth.
Without that save from Nguyen Filip, CAHN FC would have probably lost at home. On a day when the home team played disappointingly, goalkeeper Nguyen Filip was a rare solid support to keep a point for coach Polking and his team.
However, the 0-0 draw at home, with two red cards, was a terrible result for CAHN FC's ambition to compete for the top spot. They missed the chance to surpass Viettel, and also lost the chance to catch up with Hanoi FC in terms of points.
Not convinced by the referee, HAGL admits "valid goal"
Tran Minh Vuong's disallowed goal was a controversial situation in the match between Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Ha Tinh in round 19 of V.League 2024-2025.
HAGL had a goal disallowed in the 0-1 loss to Ha Tinh at Pleiku Stadium (Gia Lai) this afternoon, April 18. This was a situation where Tran Minh Vuong was not offside, because the ball from the Ha Tinh player's foot was directed towards the HAGL midfielder. He passed the away team's goalkeeper and put the ball into the goal. However, after reviewing the video, the referee decided not to recognize the goal.
HAGL's coaching staff and players disagreed with this decision. However, the slow-motion footage clearly explained why Minh Vuong's goal was disallowed. It was not because of Minh Vuong's offside, the reason the goal was disallowed was Dung Quang Nho's previous foul.
"The loss was painful because the valid goal was not recognized," HAGL Club posted on the team's official Facebook channel. Speaking at the post-match press conference, coach Le Quang Trai said that Dung Quang Nho's impact was not enough to be considered a foul and the referee did not handle it well. According to this coach, HAGL will complain about the referee.
Ronaldo "turned off", Al Nassr lost steam in the championship race
Although not highly regarded in terms of reputation, Al Qadsiah possesses a quality squad with names such as Aubameyang, Nacho, Nandez and goalkeeper Casteels. Before this round, they were only 5 points behind Al Nassr and were ranked 5th.
The match was exciting from the very first minutes. Al Nassr controlled the game with the presence of Ronaldo, Mane, Duran, Brozovic and Laporte, but surprisingly conceded the first goal.
It was not until the 84th minute that Al Nassr found the equalizer thanks to Sadio Mane's cool finish, after an assist from Otavio. Just 3 minutes later, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - former Arsenal striker scored the winning goal 2-1 for Al Qadsiah from a pass from Nandez.
This victory helped Al Qadsiah narrow the gap with Al Nassr to 2 points, and at the same time showed that they are formidable opponents in the top race this season. While Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates lost their breath in the championship race with Al Ittihad and Al Hila.
CAHN coach does not want Quang Hai to play against Manchester United
"I have to monitor Quang Hai's physical condition because the schedule at the end of May is very tight. If Hai is not okay, I want the club to intervene and not let him go to Malaysia to play the friendly match between the Southeast Asian All-Stars team and Manchester United," Coach Alexandre Polking said.
According to the schedule, CAHN Club will have an important match against Hanoi FC on May 25 in round 24 of the V-League, before making up for round 20 against the relegation-threatened team Binh Dinh on June 3. During this time, the Southeast Asian All-Stars team will play a friendly match against Manchester United on May 28 in Malaysia.
