Tien Linh beat Hoang Duc in the National Cup, the referee caused controversy again

(Dan Tri) - In a match that was tense and suffocating and had controversy over the referee, Binh Duong beat Ninh Binh Club 5-4 in a penalty shootout, after the two sides tied 2-2 in regular time.

The match between Binh Duong and Ninh Binh was as exciting as expected. This is the match between the 2024 Vietnamese Golden Ball (GGB) Nguyen Tien Linh and the Silver Ball (GGB) Nguyen Hoang Duc.

Tien Linh helps Binh Duong reach the National Cup semi-finals (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).

Tien Linh spoke first in the 59th minute. After a wall pass with teammate Viet Cuong, Tien Linh curled the ball beautifully from about 18m, sending the ball into the far corner. The top striker of Vietnamese football today defeated former top goalkeeper of domestic football Dang Van Lam, scoring to help Binh Duong lead 1-0.

More than 10 minutes later, the Southeast team scored their second goal. Naturalized player Tran Trung Hieu (formerly known as Kizito) shot hard from about 25m, and goalkeeper Dang Van Lam of Ninh Binh pushed the ball out.

However, national team midfielder Vo Hoang Minh Khoa arrived in time, he swerved the ball past a Ninh Binh defender, before Minh Khoa shot into an empty net, raising the score to 2-0 for Binh Duong.

It was thought that coach Nguyen Cong Manh's team would have an easy victory, but once again, a loss of concentration in the final minutes caused the home team to continuously concede goals.

Binh Duong's opponent will be determined after the semi-final match between SLNA and Dong Thap tomorrow (Photo: BDFC).

In the 84th minute, receiving a pass from his teammate on the right wing, Hai Duc from Ninh Binh jumped higher than Binh Duong's defense. He headed the ball beautifully into the home team's net, narrowing the gap to 1-2 for the team from the ancient capital Hoa Lu.

In the 5th minute of injury time of the second half, young referee Nguyen Van Phuc received a signal from the VAR room. Mr. Phuc checked the collision situation in the penalty area between goalkeeper Tran Minh Toan of Binh Duong and midfielder Mach Ngoc Ha of Ninh Binh.

Referee Nguyen Van Phuc determined that goalkeeper Tran Minh Toan was at fault in this collision, and Ninh Binh was awarded a penalty. From the penalty spot, Hoang Duc scored the equalizer 2-2 for Ninh Binh.

However, there is one controversial thing, which is that referee Nguyen Van Phuc, VAR referee Ngo Duy Lan and VAR assistant Pham Hoai Tam did not cut the scene of a Ninh Binh player who was very likely standing under Binh Duong's defense when the ball was passed. The Ninh Binh attacker was standing right in the direction of the fouled player, Mach Ngoc Ha.

The controversy lies in the fact that if the Ninh Binh player was offside before goalkeeper Tran Minh Toan collided with Mach Ngoc Ha, the referee and VAR team would have to handle the offside first, then consider the penalty. However, referee Nguyen Van Phuc did not review the above possible offside situation when he checked VAR.

That caused Binh Duong team to react very strongly. In the penalty shootout that took place immediately after, Binh Duong was the winning team 5-4, thereby Binh Duong won the right to enter the semi-finals of the National Cup 2024-2025.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/tien-linh-thang-hoang-duc-o-cup-quoc-gia-trong-tai-lai-gay-tranh-cai-20250329203043862.htm