Ho Chi Minh City escaped defeat thanks to a controversial penalty in the V-League
The 80th minute penalty came after referee Vu Nguyen Vu corrected the decision. Victor Mansaray's shot touches Adriano Schmidt's hand. The referee initially only gave Ho Chi Minh City a free kick for the fence. But then, Ho Chi Minh City players reacted strongly. Mr. Vu ran to the touchline to listen to advice from his assistant and give the homeowner a penalty, when he determined that Schmidt let the ball touch his hand in the penalty area.
From a distance of 11m, Hoang Vu Samson fixed the score to draw 1-1, after defeating Tran Dinh Minh Hoang - goalkeeper replaced Dang Van Lam with an injury.
Before this round, Ho Chi Minh City lost at home at the V-League 2023. That affected the confidence of Vu Tien Thanh's students. Binh Dinh is also not in a good psychological state, having just lost to Thanh Hoa 0-1 at home in the previous round and broke the winning streak.
The first 45 minutes, therefore, witnessed very few scoring opportunities. The standout situation in the first half was Rafaelson's denied goal in the 24th minute, when the referee thought that Duc Chinh had fouled a Ho Chi Minh player. Before that, Binh Dinh also almost overcame, when Jermie Lynch headed over the bar from close range.
The slightly better force helps Binh Dinh play proactively, even though it has to be a guest. In the second half, coach Nguyen Duc Thang renewed the attack, when he brought Hong Quan, Tien Dat and Nghiem Xuan Tu into the field. These changes came into play after 68 minutes. From Tien Dat's cross, Jermie Lynch sped up and finished. The first kick failed to beat goalkeeper Thanh Thang, but the dash into the back stone, Lynch scored to help the visitors lead 1-0.
Ho Chi Minh City played monotonously throughout the match, but still got an equalizer from a seemingly non-dangerous situation. Mansaray's lucky shot found Schmidt's unclosed arm, causing Binh Dinh to incur a penalty. After Hoang Vu Samson equalized, neither team got any more goals with too little time remaining.
Draw 1-1 with Binh Dinh, Ho Chi Minh City has four points after six matches, one point more than the bottom team SHB Da Nang. Binh Dinh has 10 points, four points from the top of the Hanoi table.
