Vietnam women's futsal team wins international tournament in Thailand; Liverpool returns to top of Premier League table

Vietnam women's futsal team won international tournament in Thailand

In the final round of the NSDF Women's Futsal Championship 2024 in Thailand on September 28, the Vietnamese women's futsal team had a decisive match for the championship with host Thailand.

In the first half, the Vietnamese women's futsal team were the ones to break the deadlock with an own goal by Jiraprapa in the first half of the match. Before that, captain Thanh Hang had a situation where she dribbled the ball on the right wing and sent a cross that caused the opponent to score an own goal.

After that, the host girls of Thailand continuously threatened the goal of the Vietnamese team, but the enthusiasm and passion of coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang's students saved the ball many times before the goal line.

But in the 15th minute, the Thai girls' efforts were rewarded with Sangrawee's precise volley from outside the penalty area from the left wing.

In the 17th minute, the Vietnamese girls had a chance to take the lead again when they were awarded a 10m penalty after Thailand committed their 6th foul. On the direct free kick, captain Thanh Hang unfortunately hit the post. In the last 9 seconds of the first half, Thanh Hang made amends with a rebound shot from the middle to put Vietnam back in the lead.

In the second half, the Vietnamese women's futsal team was under a lot of pressure from the home team. However, after 19 minutes of play, the Vietnamese women's futsal goal was still protected from attacks from the Thai women's futsal team. In the last 35 seconds of the match, Thailand successfully equalized 2-2.

In the end, despite being held to a 2-2 draw by host Thailand, the Vietnamese women's futsal team still won the International Friendly Championship with 4 unbeaten matches (10 points).

Meanwhile, host Thailand with 7 points after 4 matches ranked third in the tournament. The second-placed team is the Chinese futsal team (9 points), the team that defeated Thailand on the opening day.

Saigon Heat crowned Champion of Vietnam Professional Basketball League 2024

On the evening of September 28, at Nguyen Du Stadium (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), the third final match between Cantho Catfish and Saigon Heat took place within the framework of the Vietnam Professional Basketball Tournament (VBA) 2024.

Saigon Heat won 2 matches in the VBA 2024 finals against Cantho Catfish. The Western team Cantho Catfish has 2 excellent foreign players, but it is still extremely difficult to deal with the quality domestic players and the long-standing framework of Saigon Heat.

Right from the first half, Saigon Heat showed their dominant performance when they continuously took the lead. Cantho Catfish was not inferior to their opponent when they only lost by a score of 21-24. In the second half, Saigon Heat continued to lead thanks to their outstanding individual players. As for Cantho Catfish, they were still playing very hard and catching up with Saigon Heat's scoring speed. At the end of the second half, Saigon Heat led Cantho Catfish by a score of 42-41.

In the third quarter, Cantho Catfish played very well and at times took the lead, but Saigon Heat's outstanding individuals spoke up and helped their team take the lead. At the end of the third quarter, Saigon Heat led 64-62. In the final quarter, although Cantho Catfish started very well and took the lead, it was not enough for the Western team to win against a team with a perfect core and many domestic stars like Saigon Heat.

At the end of the match, Saigon Heat won 95-83 against Cantho Catfish. The best player belonged to Elijah Weaver with 30 points. With this victory, Saigon Heat officially won the 2024 VBA championship.

Liverpool return to the top of the Premier League

In the match between Wolves vs Liverpool in round 6 of the 2024/25 Premier League, although the away team did not play too dominantly, they still won 2-1. With this result, Liverpool "reclaimed" the top spot from Man City.

The match between Wolves and Liverpool at Molineux was full of drama with many notable situations right after the opening whistle. With the home advantage, Wolves took the initiative in controlling the ball and created a few opportunities. In the 5th minute, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde tried his hand with a shot from outside the penalty area, but Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson was able to block it in time.

While the visitors were still not "warmed up", Wolves continued to threaten the opponent's goal. In the 22nd minute, Matheus Cunha shot dangerously into the left corner of the goal, but goalkeeper Alisson made an excellent save. In the following minutes, Liverpool gradually regained control of the game and pushed the pressure back to Wolves.

But it wasn't until the 45+2 minute that the game's balance was broken. From the left wing, Jota crossed the ball accurately for center-back Konate to head the ball into the Wolves net. 1-0 for Liverpool.

In the second half, Liverpool continued to increase the pressure. Mohamed Salah and Jota were the key factors creating many dangerous attacks for the away team.

However, Wolves surprisingly equalized the score. In the 57th minute, Rayan Ait-Nouri seized the opportunity to score to help Wolves tie the score 1-1 after a situation where Konate and Alisson did not understand each other.

Unfortunately, Wolves' joy did not last long, just 4 minutes later they were forced to concede a penalty when Semedo pushed Jota down. The opportunity fell to Salah and the Egyptian star successfully converted to seal a 2-1 victory for Liverpool.

With this result, Liverpool took back the top spot from defending champion Man City while Wolves are at the bottom of the table with only 1 point.

Cole Palmer makes Premier League history

On the evening of September 28 (Hanoi time), Cole Palmer played brilliantly to help Chelsea beat Brighton 4-2 in round 6 of the 2024/25 Premier League season.

"Palmer's day of ecstasy", "Hats off to Palmer", "There are no words to describe Palmer's excellence"... are a series of compliments that British newspapers gave to the 22-year-old striker's performance in the match against Brighton.

The former Man City star took just 10 minutes to score a hat-trick. Before the end of the first half, Palmer quickly completed a poker that stunned the Brighton defense. According to Opta, the former Man City striker set a record as the first player in Premier League history to score 4 goals in the first half.

After 6 rounds this season, Palmer has reached 6 goals and 4 assists. Only Erling Haaland has a goal contribution record equal to Palmer (10 goals). In the Premier League last season alone, Palmer scored 22 goals and had 11 assists, a number that is superior to any other star in the tournament.

At the start of the season, coach Enzo Maresca deployed Palmer as a right winger. However, it was only when he was moved into the centre and given freedom that he really showed his best qualities. The Englishman has vision, technique, agility and the ability to both finish and pass the ball well.

With Palmer emerging as the current number 10 at Chelsea, England can dream of owning a new outstanding attacking midfielder.

Two masterpieces decide the Bayern - Leverkusen battle

In the early morning of September 29, at the Allianz Arena, Bayern and Leverkusen gave fans a match worthy of being the "El Clasico" of German football today. Bayern replaced the weak performance in the 0-3 loss last season with an impressive performance in front of the cheers of the home crowd.

The former German champion dominated the game with 69% ball possession, accompanied by 19 shots, a number more than 6 times higher than the defending champion (3 shots).

Leverkusen were completely outclassed and only had an expected goals (xG) ratio of 0.14, a figure too low compared to the home team (1.16). However, they were the team that opened the scoring, after Andrich's dangerous long-range shot in the 31st minute.

After conceding the goal, Bayern continued to push up their formation and attack relentlessly. The home team's efforts were rewarded with an equalizer after a superb goal by Aleksandar Pavlovic in the 39th minute. After stopping the ball with his chest, the German player swung his leg to send the ball flying at a speed of 101.78 km/h, hitting the Leverkusen net.

In the second half, the game continued to favor Bayern. The home team played in half-court and created a series of good chances. However, Gnabry, Olise, Kimmich and Davies all missed unfortunately.

Gnabry was the unluckiest. In the 48th minute, he had two consecutive shots from close range. Goalkeeper Hradecky was helpless but the ball hit the post and the crossbar.

Bayern attempted 18 shots but their effectiveness was only equal to Leverkusen's. The match at the Allianz Arena ended in a 1-1 draw. Bayern's winning streak ended but they still lead the Bundesliga with 13 points, while Leverkusen is in 3rd place with 10 points.