League

Lao Bao
Spectators: 7824 (Terracing: 5500, Seating: 2139, VIP seats: 185) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Nguyễn Chi got the match started through his kick off. In the 5th minute the ball was on its way in behind Sài Gòn's goalkeeper Lưu Thuyet, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. 6 minutes had been played when some careless play by Sài Gòn's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Lý Nguyet was slow to take the kick. During this time Lao Bao's players had a chance to rest. After taking down the ball on Lao Bao's corner Lý Nguyet fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Lưu Thuyet quite easily take care of the ball. 10 minutes into the game, Nguyễn Thien was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Lao Bao's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Sài Gòn the free kick. 10 minutes into the game, one of Lao Bao:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. The referee gave Sài Gòn a penalty, 11 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Huỳnh Dung, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Lao Bao's Phan Duong. 0-1. Đoàn Tinh had several of the Sài Gòn's defenders around him in the penalty area when he, after 15 minutes of play, received a pass and succeeded in some way to shoot a shot which went straight ahead into goal. This resulted in a 1-1 score and a disappointed Lưu Thuyet as he didn't even see the shot coming. Đoàn Tinh kicked well hit freekick during the 19th minute of the match. In the 26th minute Nguyễn Lan shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Phan Duong saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Phan Duong didn't succeed to prevent the ball from going into goal when Sài Gòn's Nguyễn Chi shot an unexpected shot in the crossbar's under edge and made 1-2 in the ordered_time% minute. Nguyễn Duc hit a great freekick 29 minutes into the match. Lưu Thuyet showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Đoàn Tinh in the 36th minute of the match. 37 minutes into the game, Huỳnh Phuc threw the ball into play from the sideline. Lao Bao's Phan Loc quickly snatched the ball and retained possesion. During the 40th minute of the match Nguyễn Thien completely mistimed his tackle and brought down his opponent. The referee gave Nguyễn Thien a yellow card, his second in the match, which meant he could no longer take part in the game. The supporters of Sài Gòn booed when Lao Bao was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 41 match minutes in a wonderful position. Nguyễn Thien didn't get a good kick on the ball. Lê Thanh Bình hit a great freekick 44 minutes into the match. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 1-2.

The wind increased when Đoàn Tinh made the kick off in the second half. 54 minutes into the game, Sài Gòn's Trần Teo nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Phan Duong made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 1-3. Trần Teo sent away a hard shot on goal in the 61st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. 65 minutes into the match, Sài Gòn's goal looked a bit too open when Nguyễn Hoang came free, but Lưu Thuyet reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Đoàn Tinh's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Lưu Thuyet read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 71st minute of play. If Đoàn Tinh had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 73rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. In the 75th minute, Đoàn Tinh left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Lao Bao fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-3. Lao Bao's Phan Duong played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nguyễn Chi in the 82nd minute of play. Lưu Thuyet didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Đoàn Tinh went, in the 84th minute, to the upper right corner, 3-3 was the resulting score. Phan Duong made a fantastic save in the 87th minute, when Trần Teo sent off a good shot on target. After a defensive mix-up in Lao Bao's zone, Nguyễn Chi stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Phan Duong came out of the goal and Nguyễn Chi tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After 90 minutes of play, Lao Bao's Đoàn Tinh made it 4-3 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Lưu Thuyet was left in no man's land by his defense there! Lưu Thuyet made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Đoàn Tinh in the 96th minute of play. Lao Bao were really happy, having secured the victory after a very even contest. They thanked the players of Sài Gòn for a fine match.