Five highlights of Round 24, V-League 2016

Let’s take a look at the five highlights in the 24th round of Vietnam’s top-flight football league.

Five highlights of Round 24, V-League 2016

1. Top dogs have equal points

The race to the V-League title is getting more and more thrilling as the top-standing team, Quang Ninh Coal, were unexpectedly deprived of three points in the final three extra minutes. Quang Ninh Coal’s unfortunate defeat by Thanh Hoa enabled Hanoi T&T and Hai Phong to catch up. After the 24th round, Hanoi T&T, Quang Ninh Coal and Hai Phong all have 44 points, but Hanoi T&T lead the pack thanks to its largest goal difference.

2. SHB Da Nang’s Merlo scores for seventh consecutive time

No goalkeepers seem capable of halting striker Gaston Merlo. SHB Da Nang’s 3-1 win over Saigon FC was the seventh game that the Argentina-born footballer played a part in. With twenty goals after 24 rounds, five goals ahead of the runner-up, Hoang Vu Samson of Hanoi T&T, the 31-year-old striker is drawing near to his fourth Top Scorer title.

3. Impressive resurgence

The 24th round saw many remarkable comebacks. At Pleiku Stadium, Hoang Anh Gia Lai denied Dong Thap a victory when coming back from behind to win 5-2 in the full time. Similarly, Saigon FC took an early lead, but SHB came from behind with two goals by Merlo and one by Le Hoang Thien. Hai Phong also staged a comeback in just five minutes, earning the same points as Hanoi T&T and Quang Ninh Coal.

4. Hosts were dominant

None of the seven hosts of this round suffered defeat, with five notching up wins. The most impressive was Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s 5-2 victory over Dong Thap.

5. Another shower of goals

After the 23rd round which saw 29 goals scored, the seven matches of the 24th round continued to witness a shower of goals with 27, which means on average 3.85 goals were scored in each game. So far, this round had the third most goals of this season.