Round 20 V-League: The Championship Race Gradually Settles

Round 20 of the 2025/26 V-League saw a significant shift in both the title chase and the fight to stay up, with the leading candidates, Công An Hà Nội and Thể Công Viettel, experiencing opposite outcomes.

CAHN Charges Toward the Finish Line, Thể Công Viettel "Loses Rhythm"

At home, CAHN continued to display impressive form by defeating SLNA with a 4-2 score. The team under coach Alexandre Polking dominated and scored three goals early in the first half, thereby completely controlling the match. Although SLNA managed to narrow the gap at times, they could not create a surprise against the superior strength of the home team. This victory helped CAHN firmly consolidate their top position and create a significant gap with the chasing rivals.

Conversely, Thể Công Viettel disappointed by only securing a 3-3 draw on SHB Đà Nẵng's field. Despite leading 3-2 until the end of regular play, coach Velizar Popov's team still lost the win in stoppage time following a penalty situation. This result allowed CAHN to widen the gap to 9 points, putting Viettel at a major disadvantage in the championship race. In fact, this was not the first time the military-clad team dropped points against weaker opponents, which has caused them to falter in the decisive phase.

In the middle of the table, Công an TP.HCM achieved a crucial 1-0 victory over Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh, thereby climbing to the 5th position with 29 points. This was a significant morale boost for coach Lê Huỳnh Đức and his squad after a previous streak of poor performances.

SHB Đà Nẵng Escapes the Bottom

In the relegation battle, the draw against Viettel helped SHB Đà Nẵng temporarily escape the bottom spot to rise to 13th (play-off position), pushing PVF-CAND to the bottom due to inferior auxiliary indicators. Meanwhile, HAGL with 19 points is still not safe and risks being dragged into the danger zone.

Additionally, Đông Á Thanh Hóa and Becamex TP.HCM both reached the 20-point mark, making the race in the lower group more tense than ever.