Van Hop lit up An Giang’s hopes with a 72nd-minute opener, but Van Thanh and Dai Duong were on target with a few minutes left to go to put HAGL through.
The V.League 1 leaders were expected to have a comfortable match when taking on the poor-form An Giang side who are languishing at the bottom of the National First Division Tournament (V.League 2). However, Kiatisuk’s deployment of a completely new squad prevented HAGL from demonstrating their inherent power.
The hosts created a number of opportunities to score after national team member Tuan Anh came off the bench in the second half, but their young players could not capitalise on them to find the back of the net.
HAGL paid sharply for their wastefulness as Van Hop skewed a powerful volley past goalkeeper Van Truong to ignite An Giang’s hope of advancing further.
This forced manager Kiatisuk to make some lineup adjustments, with four players from their first team, including Van Toan, Minh Vuong, Van Thanh and Dai Duong entering the field.
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The appearance of this quartet immediately added strength to HAGL’s attacks, allowing them to put their opponents under consistent pressure.
In the 86th minute, Van Toan earned a penalty for HAGL after being brought down by The Lam in the box. Van Thanh made no mistake from the spot, equalising the score and relieving the hosts of their psychological burden.
Five minutes later, Dai Duong easily slotted it in from close range to secure a successful comeback for HAGL and put them through to the Round of 16.
On the same day, SHB Da Nang and Hong Linh Ha Tinh continued to foster their National Cup ambitions following respective 1-0 and 4-2 wins against Ba Ria-Vung Tau FC and the People’s Public Security team.
Becamex Binh Duong and Song Lam Nghe An were the two V.League 1 sides that suffered defeats on Friday, being beaten 2-4 (on penalties) by Can Tho FC and 0-1 by Pho Hien FC respectively.
National Cup qualification will continue today (April 24) with four clashes: Dak Lak vs Thanh Hoa FC, Topenland Binh Dinh vs Long An FC, Quang Nam FC vs Saigon FC, and Hai Phong FC vs Binh Phuoc FC.
