Ho Chi Minh City Police started V.League 2026-2027 with a 3-1 victory over Hanoi FC at home on the evening of September 5. Tien Linh and Nguyen Thai Quoc Cuong scored in the 26th and 51st minutes respectively, before Cummings sealed the victory for the home team in the 83rd minute. Andrew Jung was the only scorer for Hanoi FC.
After the match, coach Arthur Diles did not hide his satisfaction with this result, especially when Ho Chi Minh City Police just experienced a forgettable National Super Cup match.
The feeling at this time is very happy, especially that we won after a forgettable Super Cup match a few days ago. Today, the players on the field played their best, well followed all tactics and played very disciplined," Mr. Arthur Diles shared.
The Australian coach said that the Ho Chi Minh City Police coaching staff had carefully studied the opponent's playing style, especially the ability to put the ball into the penalty area from both wings.
I know Hanoi FC will play a lot of crosses, so I have prepared carefully to counter this option," Mr. Diles said.
Assessing the performance of the scoring players, coach Arthur Diles said that all three goals of Ho Chi Minh City Police were valuable, in which Cummings's goal was somewhat lucky.
Cummings had a lucky goal, but luck did not come naturally. If he hadn't finished, the goal would not have happened. And the 2 goals of Tien Linh and Quoc Cuong were both great," Mr. Diles commented.
Despite winning convincingly, coach Arthur Diles affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City Police still has a lot of work to do if they want to maintain their form in the long journey ahead.
Today, the players showed good form. However, the road ahead is still long, we still have a lot to improve. We will strive to practice, continue to prepare for the next match," Mr. Diles said.
In the opposite direction, coach Harry Kewell said that Hanoi FC was unlucky in the match, and admitted that his players were not accurate enough at decisive moments.
We were unlucky. At the same time, we did not perform accurately in decisive situations, both passing and finishing," coach Kewell said.
According to the Australian coach, Hanoi FC created many opportunities but could not take advantage of them, while Ho Chi Minh City Police did it well.
We had many opportunities but didn't take advantage well. But Ho Chi Minh City Police was the opposite. That's the difference. We need to improve the quality of the decisive balls," Mr. Kewell analyzed.
The head coach of Hanoi FC also used Tien Linh's opening goal as an example of the difference between the two teams.
Ho Chi Minh City Police did very well in both crossing and finishing in the opening goal," Mr. Kewell commented.
When asked about the referee's decisions in the match, coach Kewell affirmed that he had no problems with the match management.
This is also the first time the two Australian coaches have faced each other in the V.League. However, Mr. Kewell said that is not his main concern.
It's great to have 2 Australian coaches here. But I'm more interested in the performance of my team," Mr. Kewell shared.
The victory over Hanoi FC helps Ho Chi Minh City Police get 3 points on the opening day of V.League 2026-2027. Meanwhile, Hanoi FC suffered a defeat right in the opening match of the new season.
