With the home field advantage, the Hanoi Police players started the match better than the Nam Dinh Steel Club. The police team played quite freely in the first minutes of the match.

On the other side of the field, Nam Dinh Steel Blue actively played defensive counter-attacks. With a reasonable style of play, the away team Nam Dinh Steel Blue created dangerous opportunities from quick counter-attacks. In the 25th minute, Thanh Truong from Nam Dinh kicked a difficult corner kick, forcing Filip Nguyen to block it. Then it was Hong Duy's turn to dribble on the right wing and then cross the ball into the penalty area for De Souza to tap the ball close to the goal, sending the ball just over the crossbar of the Hanoi Police goal.

Hong Duy (in white shirt) of Nam Dinh Steel Blue had a good match against Hanoi Police. Photo: Viet An

In the final minutes of the first half, Nam Dinh Steel Blue pushed up the formation and created dangerous opportunities, but unfortunately Thanh Truong's long-range shot from outside the penalty area could not defeat the talent of goalkeeper Filip Nguyen of Hanoi Police.

In the second half, the home team Cong An Ha Noi pushed up their formation, putting pressure on the field of Thep Xanh Nam Dinh. In the 59th minute, from a cross into the penalty area of ​​Thep Xanh Nam Dinh, foreign player Gustavo headed the ball to the ground but goalkeeper Nguyen Manh made an excellent save.

In the 58th minute, Duc Huy of Nam Dinh Steel Blue received a second yellow card after a foul on Cley. With the advantage of having more players, Hanoi Police continuously created dangerous situations in front of the away team's goal, but when the home team had not yet scored a goal, they unexpectedly conceded a goal. In the 65th minute, Dinh Son tried to dribble the ball before passing it back to Hendrio, the Brazilian midfielder skillfully finished to open the score for Nam Dinh Steel Blue.

A fierce ball dispute between players of two teams. Photo: Viet An

After conceding the goal, the home team Hanoi Police immediately changed a series of personnel to create a new breeze in the home team's playing style. The home team's change of personnel was effective. In the 78th minute, Quang Hai took a corner kick and sent the ball towards the far post. Tan Sinh's aerial battle created an opportunity for substitute Raphael to head the ball home to equalize 1-1 for Hanoi Police.

In the following minutes, Hanoi Police were still the team controlling the game, creating a series of delicious opportunities, however the match ended without any more goals being scored, forcing the two teams to determine the winner by a risky penalty shootout.

In the nerve-wracking penalty shootout, Nam Dinh Steel Club won 3-2 against Hanoi Police to win a ticket to the quarter-finals of the National Cup to meet Viettel FC.

* In the previous match, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club won 1-0 against Becamex Binh Duong to win a ticket to the quarterfinals to meet PVF-CAND - the team that just won 2-0 against Phu Tho Club.

TUAN DIEP