The heavy rain not only caused a 30-minute delay but also significantly affected the quality of the match. The waterlogged pitch prevented players from both sides from making short passes. Both Ho Chi Minh City FC and Ninh Binh FC resorted to long balls and appeared to be at a standstill.
Even before the first half ended, coach Nguyen Viet Thang had to make a substitution to improve the attack. Young player Pham Gia Hung, who had previously impressed while playing for Hanoi Police FC (CAHN), was given a chance.
The players from both teams competed extremely fiercely.
They struggled with passing situations, so there were almost no sharp attacking moves.
In the second half, coach Phung Thanh Phuong made some personnel changes. However, the difference was not noticeable as most of the attacking moves were long balls. The individual breakthrough attempts of the Ho Chi Minh City and Ninh Binh players were also thwarted by the opposing team and… the water.
In the 80th minute, Nguyen Thanh Loc made a dangerous tackle on Bui Ngoc Long and received his second yellow card. From this point on, Ninh Binh FC was down to 10 men. Immediately, Ho Chi Minh City FC put pressure on goalkeeper Van Lam's goal. In the 83rd minute, Adriano Schmidt unleashed a close-range shot, but unfortunately for the home team, Van Lam made a timely save. In the following minutes, Ho Chi Minh City FC continued to press but created few clear-cut opportunities. Therefore, no goals were scored after 90 minutes of regulation time, and the two teams had to decide the winner in a penalty shootout.
In the tense penalty shootout, Ninh Binh FC won 4-3 thanks to a brilliant performance from goalkeeper Van Lam. After Thanh Thinh missed his penalty, the Vietnamese national team goalkeeper successfully saved two shots to help the First Division representative advance to the next round.
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