Matches in the 18^th round of Viet Nam’s top-tier V-League 2013 took place at stadiums across the country on 3 and 4 August.  Surprisingly, only one home team managed to win.

SHB Da Nang missed a golden opportunity to climb into 2^nd place in the league after managing only a draw, 3-3 away to 6^th position Saigon Xuan Thanh Cement.  Three times SHB DN took the lead only to see SXTC come back to equalise on each occasion, partly due to mistakes by SHB DN goalkeeper Thanh Binh.

Ha Noi T&T had an easy 4-0 away win over Dong Nai at the Dong Nai Stadium.  Fortunately for them, the leaders Song Lam Nghe An suffered a 1-2 defeat to Binh Duong at the Binh Duong Stadium, moving HN T&T into the top spot and 2 points clear.

SHB DN’s striker Merlo with the ball

In other matches, Thanh Hoa beat Hoang Anh Gia Lai 1-3 at the Pleiku Stadium, whilst Ninh Binh were defeated 3-4 by Dong Tam Long An at the Ninh Binh Stadium.  Vicem Hai Phong clinched a 5-1 win over Kien Giang at the Kien Giang Stadium.

After the first 18 rounds, HN T&T now top the league with 34 points, followed by SLNA on 32, and SHB DN on 31.  Binh Duong and Kien Giang are the bottom 2, with 19 and 13 points respectively.

SHB DN’s next game is away to 9^th position DTLA on Sunday 11 August at 5pm.  If they are serious about defending their status as champions, they must accept that, with only 4 more games remaining and 3 points behind the leaders, draws are just not good enough when there has been only 1 win in their last 5 matches.  However, the top two teams play each other next weekend, so a win for SHB DN could lift them into 2^nd place, whilst another draw would probably end their chances.