Danang beat Nam Dinh 3:0 in the V.League 1 Regular Season round two on Thursday, a result that upended the early table hierarchy and left the visitors' unbeaten start in tatters.
And here's the thing — it didn't take long for the match to unravel. V. K. Tran was sent off in the 19th minute, and Danang had to play with a man advantage for nearly half an hour before the visitors even lost theirs.
By then the home side had carved out chances without troubling the scoreboard, but the game truly changed when Ezequiel received his second red card in the 54th minute. Two yellow cards in quick succession, one at 58 and another at 62, and Nam Dinh were down to nine men with minutes to spare.
Danang didn't dallied on the ball once the numerical advantage was secured. I. Saponjić opened the scoring at 60, Y. Calleros added a second four minutes later, and B. Ly completed the rout in the 74th minute.
The statistics tell a familiar story. Danang held 59 per cent possession, registered 75 attacks against 49, and fired six shots on target to Nam Dinh's single attempt. The visitors managed just one corner all game and couldn't find a path through.
To be fair, we had backed Nam Dinh for the win at 42 per cent confidence before kickoff. The prediction didn't materialize, and the two dismissals — particularly the second one — are what broke the game open.
The result leaves Danang at the bottom of the table with zero points from one match, while Nam Dinh drop to second after conceding their first defeat. The gap between them is now three points, and Nam Dinh will need answers before the next round.