Central football is out of breath

Round 20 of V.League 2024/25 witnessed the championship race between Nam Dinh Blue Steel and Hanoi FC, while in the lower half of the rankings, the victories of Hoang Anh Gia Lai and SHB Da Nang made the relegation battle here even hotter and more difficult for the teams in the Central region.

Besides Hong Linh Ha Tinh, which has escaped the relegation group and climbed to 4th place with the "giants", the remaining teams from the "hot" region such as Da Nang , Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, Song Lam Nghe An, and even Hoang Anh Gia Lai are struggling to compete for each point, hoping to have a safe position when the season ends.

Once big names like Song Lam Nghe An , Binh Dinh, Da Nang are now worried about relegation, proving that Central football is no longer a force in the V.League like before.

After the end of round 20, in the lower half of the rankings, a new situation of the relegation battle suddenly appeared when Hoang Anh Gia Lai and SHB Da Nang both got 3 very important points in this round against Hai Phong and Dong A Thanh Hoa.

Thanks to that, Hoang Anh Gia Lai has squeezed into the middle group on the rankings, but this ranking is not certain yet, because the score gap between the 10th ranked team, Ho Chi Minh City Club, and the 7th ranked team, Becamex Binh Duong, is only 1 win, so the order of positions between the teams can change after only 1 or 2 matches.

Meanwhile, after tireless efforts, SHB Da Nang also had their second victory this season to shorten the score gap with Quy Nhon Binh Dinh ranked right above.

Although SHB Da Nang has played one more match than Quy Nhon Binh Dinh, this result can also make the Han River team feel more confident in the remaining journey of this year's season.

After 2 consecutive rounds of only draws and Hanoi FC narrowing the gap to 2 points, rookie Lam Ti Phong had a brilliant performance against Becamex Binh Duong with 1 goal and 1 assist, helping Nam Dinh Blue Steel get back on track.

Thanks to the 3 points won in this match, Nam Dinh Blue Steel continues to maintain a 2-point gap with Hanoi FC, the team that defeated Quang Nam at home with a score of 2-1 in the latest match of round 20 of V.League.

Next week, Nam Dinh Blue Steel will travel to Hang Day Stadium to play away against Hanoi FC in a match that is as meaningful as the early final of V.League 2024/25. This is also the opening match for a series of direct confrontations between the teams currently in the top 5 positions on the rankings, and the results of these matches will have a direct impact on the results of the championship race this season.

Round 20 of V.League 2024/25 was very tense and close, but the highlight was that no match ended in a 0-0 draw. All 6 matches of round 20 had goals with very clear results.

The latest match of round 20 between Quy Nhon Binh Dinh Club vs Cong An Ha Noi Club will take place on June 3, 2025.