League

Son La
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) Son La's Trần Diem started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. Lưu Phu received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 7th minute. Tạ Nga tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. If Trần Diem had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 9th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 10 minutes of play, Son La's Lưu Phu made it 1-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Tạ Nga was left in no man's land by his defense there! When Trần Diem fell near the penalty area in the 13th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Son La's protests and gave Trần Diem a yellow card for diving instead. A collision led to Son La getting a freekick after 13 minutes play. Trần Diem hit a great ball. In the 15th minute, Mai Minh made a precise shot to the right of Nguyễn Pham. Son La's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 1-1. Nguyễn Pham made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Nguyễn Viet in the 18th minute of play. Lưu Phu didn't miss a given chance and shot in short distance 2-1 via right post in the game's 20th minute. Son La's supporters showed their exhuberating excitement! Lưu Phu could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 24th minute of the match, but Tạ Nga made a huge save. In the 29th minute the ball was on its way in behind Bac Ninh's goalkeeper Tạ Nga, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Trần Diem received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 31st minute. Tạ Nga tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 36th minute of the match, Lưu Phu got a very nice opportunity to score, but Tạ Nga was well-placed and pushed the ball away from the goal at the left post. Tạ Nga stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Trần Diem's shot from short distance in the 40th minute. An unexpected shot in the 43rd minute by Lưu Phu got the crowd on their feet, but to their dismay it went out on the left side. All the noise was coming from the home fans when the whistle went for half-time. The home team had fought hardest to put themselves in a deserved lead.

The audience was convinced that Trần Diem's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Tạ Nga was relentless in the 53rd minute of the game. A collision led to Bac Ninh getting a freekick after 55 minutes play. Trần Phong hit a great ball. In the 56th minute of the match Nguyễn Binh sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but Tạ Nga skillfully saved the ball. 58 minutes into the match, Trần Diem had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Tạ Nga. Bac Ninh's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Trần Diem was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 3-1. A collision led to Son La getting a freekick after 64 minutes play. Nguyễn Hung hit a great ball. The supporters of Son La booed when Bac Ninh was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 65 match minutes in a wonderful position. Võ Loc didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 68th minute the ball was on its way in behind Bac Ninh's goalkeeper Tạ Nga, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Nguyễn Viet in the 70thth minute had a little luck and got a chance for a shot in front of the goal. Without hesitation aimed to the right of Nguyễn Pham, who managed to lunge to the right direction and made a save. Nguyễn Pham made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Mai Minh in the 71st minute of play. When Son La's Lưu Phu in the 72nd minute got a chance for a shot 72nd didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Bac Ninh's goalie prevented a goal. Trần Thanh Bình took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 78th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Nguyễn Pham. Son La's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. 3-3 became the score in the 83rd minute when Nguyễn Viet elegantly shot the ball into goal just under the crossbar. Nguyễn Pham hit a great freekick 86 minutes into the match. Bac Ninh's Tạ Nga played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Trần Diem in the 87th minute of play. Nguyễn Tuyet took the ball and in the 91 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Tạ Nga. Tạ Nga dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 4-3. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Lưu Phu in the 97th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Tạ Nga prevented the ball from getting in the gole. When the referee ended the match the Son La players were able to celebrate. They had won a fair victory and recieved the ovations of their fans.