Da Nang fought to a 1-1 away draw with northern club Nam Dinh at Thien Truong Stadium in the V-League’s 10th round Sunday to remain four points clear of second-placed Khanh Hoa with 20 points.

Things became worse for Nam Dinh nine minutes into the second half when Nguyen Van Bien was sent off after getting a second yellow card.

Nam Dinh coach Ngoc Hao sent in Amaobi Uzowuru to strengthen the frontline and the Nigerian striker, a former Da Nang player, struck from 20 meters to score for his team.

But Nam Dinh dropped two places to 12th, or just above the relegation zone.

Wealthy Central Highlands club Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) scored a 2-1 away win over The Cong at Hanoi’s Hang Day Stadium, with both goals by the most expensive foreign player in the league, Lee Nguyen. The Vietnamese-American striker scored after a four-month dry spell.

HAGL jumped three places to ninth and The Cong dropped five places to 13th, just above bottom-placed HCMC Club.

In the Mekong Delta, Dong Thap and visitors Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) fought hard but ended scoreless at Cao Lanh Stadium.

SLNA goalkeeper Pham Duc Anh broke his leg in a clash with a Dong Thap striker at the beginning of the second half, holding up the match for six minutes.

Substitute goalkeeper Thanh Dat later collided with Dong Thap striker Samson, which almost led to an altercation before the coaching staff of the two teams calmed their players. The match was held up for another seven minutes.

Dong Thap then attacked relentlessly but failed to beat the SLNA defense though 13 minutes were added on. Both climbed one place in the table, Dong Thap to third and SLNA to fourth.

Defending champions Binh Duong came back from two goals down to snatch a home draw against T&T Hanoi. Binh Duong remains in seventh place while T&T fell one place to 10th.

Hai Phong defeated Khanh Hoa 1-0 at home to move up three places to eighth, while Khanh Hoa remains in second.

Thanh Hoa jumped three places off the bottom to 11th with a 1-0 away victory over the Fourth Military Zone thanks to a second half own goal by Tran Son Ha. The soldiers fell two places to fifth.

The 2005-06 champions Dong Tam Long An (DTLA) played out a scoreless draw with visitors HCMC Club. It was its seventh draw in 10 rounds. DTLA remains in sixth while HCMC Club fell to last.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff