Binh Duong, T&T Hanoi take the lead; Hoang Anh suffer second loss
Binh Dinh secure top spot at First Division
By Vu Duc - The Saigon Times Daily
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| Ninh Binh's Rodrigo Mota Farias celebrates after scoring during a V-League football match against Savibank Saigon at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCMC on Sunday - Photo: Ba Chau |
HCMC - The second round of the V-League, also called the PetroVietnam Gas Cup 2010, witnessed an impressive performance by Becamex Binh Duong and T&T Hanoi as they beat their opponents on Sunday. Hoang Anh Gia Lai suffered their second loss.
T&T Hanoi thrashed Khatoco Khanh Hoa 5-1 at Hanoi’s Hang Day Stadium while Becamex Binh Duong beat Nam Dinh 2-1 at Binh Duong’s Go Dau Stadium, gaining 
the most points and securing the top spots from two games.
The hosts dominated the game from kick-off while Khanh Hoa relied on counter attack plays in the hope of earning a point. Benicio opened the scoring for T&T Hanoi in the 25th minute, and then doubled for his team just three minutes later.
Francois Endene scored for T&T Hanoi in the 38th minute after receiving a comfortable cross from teammate Sy Cuong who broke Khanh Hoa’s offside trap.
Cuong evened the score for his team in the 76th minute before Endene scored his second goal in the 78th minute. National midfielder Le Tan Tai scored the only goal for Khanh Hoa in the 88th minute.
Becamex Binh Duong, who defeated Nam Dinh 2-1 at Binh Duong’s Go Dau Stadium, and T&T Hanoi have six points each from two games but the V-League runners-up team rank first thanks to goal difference.
Meanwhile, Hoang Anh Gia Lai continued to show poor performance this new season. Hoang Anh lost 1-2 to Hoa Phat Hanoi in their hometown on Sunday and the Pleiku-based team lost 2-4 to Khanh Hoa in the opener.
Though Evaldo opened the score for Hoang Anh in the 37th minute, Tran Le Martin leveled for Hoa Phat in the 53rd minute before Eduardo finalized the game in the 90th minute.
With the second loss, Hoang Anh Gia Lai has moved to the bottom of the ranking table with no points after two games.
Ninh Binh defeated Navibank Saigon 2-1 in HCMC. The visiting team surprisingly advanced in the 37th minute with Raphael’s goal, but Suleiman leveled for his team just two minutes later. Rodrigo Mota Farias finalized the game for Ninh Binh in the 50th minute.
In another game on Sunday, Dong Tam Long An tied 1-1 with Song Lam Nghe An in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.
* Binh Dinh crushed Hue 4-2 in the second game to secure the top place of the First Division 2010 while the game between HCMC Club and Tay Ninh ended 2-2 on Saturday.
Though Hue dominated the ball in the first minutes, visiting Binh Dinh took an advance in the first half with the score of 3-1. Alanin scored for Binh Dinh in the 88th minute before Trong Trung of Hue finalized the score at 4-2 in the last minutes.
Binh Dinh, Hanoi ACB, who beat Quang Ninh Coal 3-2 in the northern province of Quang Ninh, Tien Giang, who tied 1-1 with An Giang in the Mekong Delta city of My Tho and Tay Ninh have four points each from the first two games but Binh Dinh rank first thanks to goal difference.
The match in Dong Nai Province was the most boring in the second round when hosts Dong Nai tied 0-0 with Quang Nam. The last match was another draw between TDC Binh Duong and Can Tho at Binh Duong Stadium.