Rampant Hoang Anh Gia Lai too much for Khatoco

A hat trick earned striker Agostinho a US$12,500 bonus from shampoo-manufacturer Hatrick and gave Hoang Anh Gia Lai a 3-1 victory over Khatoco Khanh Hoa at Nha Trang Stadium yesterday.

Agostinho opened the scoring line with a header and doubled the visitors’ lead with a fine strike from inside the penalty area.

Jonathan later took advantage of a defensive error to reduce the deficit before Agostinho rounded off his amazing evening with an angle shot.

Khatoco Khanh Hoa started brightly but it was the men from the mountains who made the breakthrough when Agostinho was left unmarked inside the penalty area and simply headed the ball home in the seventh minute.

The hosts had a rare bit of luck after twenty minutes when A Huynh’s effort from 16 meters out flew past goalkeeper Pham Van Thach but was cleared off the line by Trong Binh.

Agostinho wasted a glorious chance five minutes later when his low shot from inside the penalty area was punched away by Van Thach.

Khatoco Khanh Hoa replied with a dangerous side-footed strike from Jonathan that forced a diving save from goalkeeper Quoc Tuan. 

Hoang Anh Gia Lai doubled their lead on the stroke of half time when Thailand’s Thonglao smartly chipped a through ball from midfield to the rampaging Agostinho, who beat an advancing Pham Van Thach from close range.

Khatoco Khanh Hoa boss Le Huu Tuong threw on Duy Nam after the break and the young center midfielder was the architect of the home team’s goal in the 61st minute when he squeezed a nice pass to Jonathan, who made no mistake and tapped the ball home from inside the penalty area.

But Agostinho canceled the sea-siders’ bid to get back into the game seventeen minutes from full time when he calmly collected a long ball from Thonglao and fired an angled shot into the far corner of the net.

Khatoco Khanh Hoa: Van Thach, Ngoc Dieu, Van Tien (Duy Nam 46’), Thien Hao, Tan Tai, Quang Hai (Ngoc Quy 81’), Van Phong, Trong Binh, Issfu (Bentil 46’) , Mustapha, Jonathan

Hoang Anh Gia Lai: Tran Quoc Viet, Duy Quang, Thonglao, Van Dan, A Huynh (Thai Duong 71’), Viet Anh, Dusit, Minh Nghia (Tang Tuan 65’), Minh Thien, Van Kiet, Agostinho (Sakda 77’)

The V-League Petro Viet Nam Gas 2007 Table: