Binh Thien suffered a heavy 0:3 defeat to Cong An Ninh Binh in the third round of Vietnam's V.League 1 on Saturday. The visitors moved into third place with six points from two matches, while the hosts remain bottom of the table with zero points after two losses.
Cong An Ninh Binh's away side took control with three goals in quick succession. Alan Grafite opened the scoring in the 52nd minute, followed by B. Perea in the 55th and Le Pham Thanh Long's strike in the 58th. and here's the thing — the home side had already been reduced to ten men.
Le Van Son's red card in the 15th minute changed everything. By then the visitors were already imposing their will, and playing with ten men made defending impossible. to be fair, the away team showed composure rather than rushing to add more goals.
Two yellow cards were issued during the match — one in the 19th minute and another in the 78th — but neither carried the weight of the early dismissal. The home side sat deep and soaked it up, but the numerical disadvantage told.
The result extends Cong An Ninh Binh's winning start to the season. They have won both opening fixtures, including a 1:0 victory over Viettel on Wednesday. The hosts, by contrast, have lost both games — a 0:1 defeat to Hong Linh Ha Tinh and a 0:2 loss to Viettel.
What this means in practice is that Cong An Ninh Binh now sits three points clear of mid-table sides, while Binh Thien face a difficult road to recovery. by then, the damage had been done — one mistake ends it when you are playing with ten men against a team in form.