Matches in the 19^th round of the league took place at stadiums across the country on 22 and 24 September. 

An action shot from last Friday’s match between SHB DN and Quang Ninh

After a disappointing 0-1 home loss to Song Lam Nghe An in the Hoa Xuan Stadium on 17 September, SHB Da Nang were held to a goalless draw at Quang Ninh (QN) last Friday after their match yielded no goals.

QN’s coach Phan Thanh Hung assigned his naturalised midfielder Tran Trung Hieu to closely mark SHB DN’s hero Do Merlo in order to prevent him from making the best of his skills.  Coach Hung had known that SHB DN players had come to depend a great deal on their captain Merlo.  Therefore, Merlo had no scoring chances during the first half.

In the 27^th minute, the home team were awarded a penalty after SHB’s midfielder A Mit tried to prevent a shot by a QN player in the penalty area.  But fortunately for SHB, midfielder Nghiem Xuan Tu’s penalty kick was unsuccessful.

In addition, SHB’s goalkeeper Nguyen Thanh Binh was the hero when he saved dangerous shots by midfielders Tu and Pham Nguyen Sa in the 30^th and 37^th minutes.

Thanks to adjustments to SHB’s counter-attacking tactics in the second-half, Merlo had the opportunity to approach QN’s goalkeeper Huynh Tuan Linh.  However, he missed some scoring chances in the 55^th, 59^th and 79^th minutes due to inaccurate shots.  The game finally ended at 0-0.

The other match results were:

              Quang Nam 2-1 Hai Phong

              Binh Duong 0-0 Song Lam Nghe An                 

                    Can Tho 1-4 Thanh Hoa

                    Long An 2-2 Sanna Khanh Hoa

     Ho Chi Minh City 1-0 Hoang Anh Gia Lai 

                       Ha Noi 2-2 Sai Gon FC

Thanh Hoa currently top the league with 36 points.  They were followed by Quang Nam on 34, and Sai Gon and Ha Noi both on 32.  SHB DN are in 8^th place on 26 points. Can Tho and Long An are the bottom pair, with 17 and 9 points respectively.

SHB DN will play at Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday 1 October at 5.30pm.