Leading twice, U19 Song Lam Nghe An still had to share points with U19 PVF

U19 Song Lam Nghe An's starting lineup. Photo: Hai Hoang

Before entering the second round of Group B of the 2023 National U19 Qualifiers, U19 Song Lam Nghe An temporarily ranked first in the group after winning 2-0 against U19 Nam Dinh. Meanwhile, U19 PVF only earned 1 point after drawing 1-1 with U19 Da Nang.

Although not having a favorable start like U19 Song Lam Nghe An, the host U19 PVF is still considered a strong team in this group. Therefore, the match between U19 Song Lam Nghe An and U19 PVF is worth waiting for, having great significance for the first and second place in group B.

Having to play away from home, U19 Song Lam Nghe An created a big surprise when they entered the game proactively and attacked from the start. Coach Nguyen Van Vinh often applied the coordination and attack on both sides of the ball for the home team. That way of playing was effective, with Quang Vinh scoring a goal for U19 Song Lam Nghe An in the 3rd minute of the match. Starting from a situation of climbing the right side, Quang Vinh received the ball from a teammate's pass. He made a powerful kick, defeating goalkeeper Nguyen Quang, opening the score for U19 Song Lam Nghe An.

After conceding the goal, coach Dinh The Nam asked his players to push up their formation to find an equalizer. However, in the final moments, PVF could not win against the precise interception of Nguyen Hoang and his teammates.

Despite leading twice, U19 Song Lam Nghe An could not leave with all 3 points. Photo: Hai Hoang

On the away team, Quang Luc showed his forte with daring and speedy dribbling. In the 17th minute, the midfielder wearing the number 10 shirt made a breakthrough on the left wing before making a shot that went just wide of the post.

In the first 45 minutes, the left wing of U19 Song Lam Nghe An - with the participation of Quang Luc, Van Quy, Van Quy was chosen as the main attacking wing. There were many sharp combinations created by the away team. To limit the fierce attack of U19 Song Lam Nghe An, U19 PVF did not hesitate to play rough, with more aggressive tackles than necessary. That caused many players of U19 Song Lam Nghe An to be hurt and had to seek medical care.

However, with highly variable passing situations, U19 Song Lam Nghe An created many opportunities in front of Nguyen Quang's goal. In the 30th minute, the great pressure from Nghe An players caused U19 PVF to make a mistake when passing the ball back to goalkeeper Nguyen Quang inaccurately. Striker Van Quy stole the ball, but in a face-to-face situation with the opposing goalkeeper, this player did not shoot the ball accurately.

PVF played at a disadvantage compared to the away team, but surprisingly got an equalizer in the last seconds of the first half. From a move up the left wing, a teammate crossed the ball to Thai Ba Dat. The PVF captain, in an open position, headed the ball into Nguyen Hoang's foot, making the U19 Song Lam Nghe An net.

In the second half, in order to strengthen the attack, coach Nguyen Van Vinh decided to bring Long Vu onto the field to replace Truong Van Tuyen. The presence of the U17 Vietnam player helped U19 Song Lam Nghe An create high-quality attacks.

In the 48th minute, after a series of combinations on the right wing, Quang Vinh made a pass to Van Quy. The impact of the opposing defender caused the striker wearing shirt number 18 to fall in the penalty area, but the referee said no to a penalty.

Putting great pressure on the opponent, U19 Song Lam Nghe An once again raised the score to 2-1. Coach Nguyen Van Vinh's students made highly tactical passes, the ball was returned to the midfield for Van Quy. This striker dropped the ball to Quang Vinh's feet right in front of the opponent's penalty area. The midfielder wearing the number 9 shirt kicked beautifully, leaving the PVF goalkeeper no chance to block.

After the goal, U19 Song Lam Nghe An did not attack with all their might as before, instead, coach Nguyen Van Vinh used a defensive counter-attacking style of play. However, the Nghe An team still had quality attacks. Among them, it is necessary to mention the situations of deploying fixed free kicks that were arranged with high scientific quality.

In the 75th minute, from a free kick on the right wing, Quang Vinh jumped high and headed the ball into the far corner of the opponent's goal, but it was not strong enough to beat goalkeeper Nguyen Quang.

In the final minutes of the match, U19 PVF pushed almost all of their forces to the opponent's field to find an equalizer, but against the tightly organized defense of U19 Song Lam Nghe An, the home team could not get what they needed.

It was thought that the match would end with a score of 2-1 in favor of U19 Song Lam Nghe An, but in the extra minutes, the referee awarded U19 PVF a penalty. That was the situation where PVF had the ball on the left wing, Dinh Hung intervened on the opponent player from behind, the referee quickly blew the whistle amid strong protests from Nghe An players, because they thought the foul was outside the penalty area.

On the 11m penalty spot, Nguyen Le Phat restored the balance 2-2 for PVF. That was also the final score of the match.

On March 31, U19 Song Lam Nghe An will meet U19 Hue.