With striker Lazaro de Sousa from Army Zone 4, and John Wole from Ho Chi Minh City football club along with skillful captain Leandro de Oliveira Da Luz, Hai Phong started the match confidently, and were the better team in the first half.
VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese football club Hai Phong Cement drew with MFK Slovakia’s Petrzalka 0-0 in the opener of the 10th Binh Duong international football tournament.
Petrzalka flattered to deceive and only created one chance that saw Kozar Tomas’ shot inside the box go over the crossbar.
The best opportunity in the first half went to Hai Phong in the 35th minute.
From Leandro’s powerful throw-in on the right wing, the ball, deflected by a Lazaro header, found an unmarked Dang Van Robert in the penalty area but he failed to put Hai Phong ahead as his point-blank shot went over, despite an empty goal beckoning.
Four minutes from the break, Leandro’s fierce on-target free kick forced Petrzalka goalkeeper Mundi Andrej to parry the ball over the bar.
Hai Phong continued attacking Petrzalka during the second half, but sloppiness almost allowed the Slovakians to grab a goal. John Wole make a uncharacteristic error which allowed a Petrzalka player to bring a save out of Hai Phong’s goalkeeper Bui Quang Huy.
Leandro’s cross in the last minute of the match sent Lazaro into the penalty box but Mundi saved the ball at the attacker’s feet to bring the match to a scoreless draw.
In the later match following the ceremony, hosts Becamex Binh Duong beat Chinese Lifan 2-1 to take three points and top Group A.
Today, defending champions SHB Da Nang will take on Uganda’s Kampala at 4pm while another Vietnamese club Dong Tam Long An plays Duque de Caxias of Brazil in the match later on.
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