HAGL escapes bottom of the table before V-League breaks

Thanks to 1 point kept at Pleiku stadium in the last minute of extra time, HAGL escaped the bottom position of the rankings.

HAGL is still in the danger zone

In the match considered the "reverse final" of V-League 2025 - 2026 at this time, HAGL kept 1 point at Pleiku stadium when they tied Thanh Hoa 1-1 last night, November 9. The mountain town team escaped defeat thanks to a late goal in the 100th minute, scored by center-back Dinh Quang Kiet. However, this is considered a rather disappointing result for coach Le Quang Trai and his team, as they should have done better before the V-League was suspended to make way for FIFA Days in November.

Before that, HAGL had 2 exciting unbeaten matches against strong opponents, The Cong Viettel (won 2-1, round 8) and Nam Dinh Club (drawn 2-2, round 9). Therefore, fans hoped that HAGL would improve and have a great opportunity to improve their position on the rankings when facing easier opponents, Ha Tinh Club (round 10) and Thanh Hoa Club (round 11). However, the mountain town team showed that they are still an unstable team, able to block strong opponents, but extremely stuck when facing "equally matched" teams. The Pleiku home team could not take advantage of the opportunity to accumulate points, when losing 0-1 to Ha Tinh Club and drawing 1-1 with Thanh Hoa Club.

HAGL (middle) still cannot escape the relegation race

PHOTO: KHA HOA

Also on the evening of November 9, Hai Phong FC impressively defeated Da Nang FC with a score of 3-1. This result changed the situation at the bottom of the table. The Han River team sank deep at the bottom of the table, with only 7 points (goal difference -8) after 11 rounds; PVF-CAND ranked second to last with 8 points (goal difference -10); Thanh Hoa (8 points, goal difference -6) and HAGL (8 points, goal difference -7) ranked 11th and 12th respectively.

The highlight match of round 11 was the match between Ho Chi Minh City Police Club and the top team Ninh Binh, at Thong Nhat Stadium on the evening of November 9. The two teams delivered an extremely satisfying and surprising match with 7 goals scored. After conceding an early goal, coach Le Huynh Duc and his team scored 3 goals in a row and led 3-2 when the first half ended. However, Ho Chi Minh City Police Club could not maintain their advantage. Thanks to 2 goals in the second half, Ninh Binh Club made a spectacular comeback to win 4-3, thereby solidifying their top position with 27 points.

Although Ho Chi Minh City Police Club accepted defeat, it cannot be denied that the young players of Coach Le Huynh Duc had a commendable match, on a day when both experienced domestic players and expensive foreign players were silent. All three names that scored for the Thong Nhat Stadium team were 23 years old or younger: Vo Huu Viet Hoang (born in 2002), Lee Williams (2007), Nguyen Duc Phu (2003). Of which, Lee Williams is a British citizen, with a mother of Vietnamese origin. Also in round 11, SLNA defeated the highly rated team Becamex TP.HCM with a score of 2-1.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hagl-thoat-day-bang-truoc-khi-v-league-tam-nghi-185251109223619229.htm