On a day when all seven home teams won their matches, holders of the top two First Division spots, Binh Dinh and Tay Ninh, lost ground in the eighth round.

Do Thanh Sang’s first-half goal for Binh Dinh proved insufficient for his team to hold on to the top spot because they slowed down and failed to hold on to lead as Saigon United, coached by Van Sy Hung, fought back fiercely in the second half and struck twice to grab a home win.

The loss pulled the central club Binh Dinh one place down to second while rivals Saigon United remains in 11th place despite the win.

Last week’s second placed Tay Ninh also dropped one spot to third after a 0-2 loss to host Huda Hue city at the Tu Do Stadium.

It looked like Tay Ninh coach Vu Truong Giang intended to fight for a draw and that put some pressure on his players as they were hesitant about attacking.

Their timidity made it easier for the home team Hue to step up their attacks and this paid off with two goals near the end of each half. The victory took them to the sixth place from the ninth.

Meanwhile, northern club Ninh Binh proved too strong at home against An Giang from the Mekong Delta. The home team converted the advantage to earn a 2-0 win to jump from third place to the top, pushing the Mekong Delta club to the bottom.

Hoa Phat Hanoi beat the southern club Dong Nai 1-0 to climb three places to the fourth place, pushing their opponents to the ninth place from the fifth.

In the middle of the table, Can Tho played a beautiful home match to defeat Hanoi ACB 3-1, climbing three places to the fifth and pushing their rivals four places down to the 10th.

Also in the Mekong Delta, Tien Giang moved three places up to the seventh after beating Quang Ngai 3- 0, pushing the central club one place down to the 13th.

Central club Quang Nam jumped off the bottom with a 2-1 home win over Quang Ninh, pulling the northern club down to eighth from the fourth place last week.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff