Thanh Hoa beat Da Nang 3:2 in the opening round of the V-League 1 regular season on Saturday evening. The hosts overturned a previous heavy defeat to exact their revenge against the visitors. By then, the fixture had already carried a story before kickoff.
Truong Thanh Nam gave Thanh Hoa the lead in the twelfth minute. The visitors responded with a yellow card for Vo Hoang Nguyen but could not find a way through. To be fair, Da Nang kept the ball better, but possession meant little without chances.
The second half began with a fresh face as Nguyen Minh Quang came on for Thanh Hoa at half-time. I. Saponjic equalised in the forty-ninth minute, and the momentum shifted. Both sides made double substitutions around the fifty-sixth minute, looking to change the tempo.
And here's the thing — S. Guindo ended a barren spell with two penalties. His first strike in the seventy-first minute put Thanh Hoa ahead again. The visitors pulled one back through J. Lopez in stoppage time, but the damage was done.
The statistics tell a familiar tale. Da Nang registered eleven shots on target against eight, yet the result went the other way. Eighteen shots on target in total, but only five found the net. The old football saying about finishing being everything held true here.
Tan Hoa sit sixth with three points from one game, while Da Nang languish in eighth on zero. The earlier 4:0 defeat now looks like a different contest entirely. Some matches turn on three or four moments, and this one did.