Quang Hai celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal in a match against Sai Gon FC. Photo thethao247.vn

Both teams entered the match with a strong determination to win. The winning team will take the second place behind Viettel on the table and keep their hope alive on the championship race with one more match ahead in the final round that will take place later this week, while the losing team will have no chance to win the championship this year.

From the beginning of the match, Hanoi pushed their formation to attack and find an opening goal.

The host Hanoi controlled the game in the first 10 minutes, taking only nine minutes to make a breakthrough.

Midfielder Thanh Luong on the left side made a pass into the box for Hung Dung, who made a brilliant first touch to control the ball before making a great assist for striker Romario who took a close header.

After conceding the goal, the away team’s players bounced back with hope to get the equalizer. Both teams created many opportunities in front of each other's goal.

At the 40-minute mark, striker Geovane of Sai Gon FC stole the ball from the host’s midfielder and then took a powerful shot with his left foot outside the box to get the equalizer.

The first half ended with one goal for each team.

In the very first minutes of the second half, Quang Hai made an incredible volley from outside the box into the visitors' net after clearance by the defender captain Quoc Long of Sai Gon FC.

Four minutes after Hai's goal, Thanh Luong, on the left wing, went through two visitors' defenders and then took a shot from a narrow angle. The ball went to the back of the net. It was 3-1 for Hanoi FC within the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Receiving two goals early in the second half, the visitors played the rest of the match under pressure, making counter-attacks that were not sharp enough to get a goal.

At the 66-minute mark, the host got another goal by Van Toi.

In the last 25 minutes of the match, Saigon FC pushed up the formation to get a draw because if they lost, they would officially say goodbye to the dream of winning the 2020 V.League1 championship.

At the 69th minute, Pedro shortened the score 2-4 for Sai Gon FC. But that was all they could do until the referee blew the last whistle.

With this win, Hanoi FC takes back second place on the standing table with only two points behind Viettel which has 38 points.

Hanoi will have to win its last match against Quang Ninh Coal and will wait for Viettel to lose against Sai Gon FC in the final round, which will take place this weekend. VNS

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