Quang Nam claim historic V-League title

Ahead of the Saturday clashes, Hanoi FC, Quang Nam and FLC Thanh Hoa formed a thrilling "three-horse" title race with each team having won 45 points.

Hanoi had the brightest outlook in the race for the overall crown as they possessed better head-to-head results against Quang Nam and Thanh Hoa this season. A narrow win over Quang Ninh Coal would have been enough to help the capital team to successfully defend their V-League title.

With a superior head-to-head record against Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam would make history with their first-ever V-League trophy if they managed to overcome HCM City, and Hanoi failed to bag the full three points from Quang Ninh Coal.

Backed by the crazy support from the home fans, the Quang Nam players started the match with great confidence and soon materialised their determination with an early opener thanks to Dinh Thanh Trung's success from the penalty spot after six minutes.

Despite having to play with ten men as a result of Manh Toan's 32^nd-minute red card, the host team made concerted efforts in the remainder of the first half, which paid off with their second goal by Ha Minh Tuan on the stroke of half-time.

Quang Nam continued to showcase the power of a title favourite as Thanh Trung made it 3-0 for manager Hoang Van Phuc's side ten minutes after the hour mark.

Duy Nam pulled a goal back for HCM City in injury time but it was merely a consolation, as the game ended with a score of 3-1 in favour of Quang Nam FC.

The fabulous victory lifted the Quang Nam team to the 2017 V-League trophy in a convincing fashion, as in the other match that took place at the same time, Dyachenko extinguished Hanoi FC's title defence ambition by scoring all of Quang Ninh Coal's four goals in a dramatic 4-4 draw at Cam Pha Stadium.

FLC Thanh Hoa managed to edge out Song Lam Nghe An 1-0 to finish in second place overall in this year's V-League season.

(Source: NDO)