New club Saigon FC climbs to second

Saigon FC’s Huynh Kesley Alves (R) celebrates his opener with Antonio Carlos in a match against Da Nang at Thong Nhat Stadium Sunday.

Saigon FC climbed one position to second in the country’s top-flight Super League after a 2-1 fifth round home win over Da Nang at Thong Nhat Stadium Sunday.

Le Huynh Duc, the coach of 2009 champions Da Nang, who won the “month’s best coach” title last month, badly wanted a win on the trip to his hometown Ho Chi Minh City.

However, the hosts with two draws and two wins from the first four rounds of the season were in high spirits and had better control of the match with two goals in the first half.

The visitors from Da Nang City came alive after the break but all they could do was pull back only one goal.

In other action, the Mekong Delta side Dong Thap earned a 3-1 home win over Navibank Saigon at Cao Lanh Stadium while hosts Khanh Hoa beat visitors Kien Giang 1-0 at Nha Trang Stadium.

In early matches on Saturday, 2010 champs Hanoi T&T beat Thanh Hoa 3-2 at Hang Day Stadium to retain their first-place position while 2003-04 champs Hoang Anh Gia Lai defeated Hanoi FC 2-1 at Pleiku Stadium.

Ninh Binh beat Hai Phong 2-0 at home and then Binh Duong, the 2007-08 champs, fought to a goalless tie with reigning champs Song Lam Nghe An at Go Dau Stadium.

With only two draws from the five rounds, Hai Phong is now at the bottom of the 14-club league with just two points.

By Thanh Nien News