Hà Nội beat Viettel 2-0 in capital derby

The defending champions came back to winning ways after an unexpected goalless draw against Quảng Nam last week.

The ’mini version’ of the national team hardly needed to get out of seconds gear against newcomers Viettel whose former national midfielder Vũ Minh Hiếu admitted his team lack experience at this level.

They scored two goals within four minutes either side of the half hour mark, first Pape Omar Faye found the net then Oseni Ganiyu Bolaji.

Four minutes after the interval, Quyết was sent off after a bad foul on Viettel midfielder Đức Chiến. 

However, Viettel could not take advantage of his absence. They even missed a penalty when Gustavo Santos’s kick was saved by Công.

Hà Nội jumped into second place with seven points while Viettel are fourth from the bottom with four.

In Quảng Ninh, former national striker Mạc Hồng Quân starred as he helped Quảng Ninh Coal trounce Thanh Hóa 3-0.

It was the first win for the team. Nguyễn Hải Huy scored two late on to seal the victory.

They opened the scoring on 37th minutes when Quân netted from a close range.

Two minutes later, Quân gave a perfect pass to Huy who finished from the edge of the box.

Phan Thanh Hùng asked his players to slow the pace in the second half, moving to counter-attack with Huy and Xuân Tú taking charge of the wings.

Thanh Hóa depended much on their foreign striker Rimario Gordon, who was not at his best.

Huy managed the ball from a counter-attack and shot into the top corner in the 89th minute.

It was the second loss in a row of Thanh Hoá who stay close to the bottom of the table with only one point.

Two last matches between former champions, Sông Lam Nghệ An vs Becamex Bình Dương and SHB Đà Nẵng vs Quảng Nam, will be played this afternoon. Then team will have about one month off for national U23 team’s competition. 

The league will be back on April 5.