Convincing victory!

(Baonghean) - Playing tight in defense and improvising in attack, SLNA players won an easy victory over Mr. Duc's "children" in the highlight match of round 9, V.League 2015.

Yesterday afternoon (April 12), the match between the home team SLNA and HAGL did not start until 5pm, but since the morning, many Nghe An fans from the districts had taken a van to Vinh City to watch the match. An hour before the match started, the stands at Vinh Stadium were packed. When the match whistle blew, cheers and encouragement filled the sky. Fans who could not enter the stadium had to climb up the tall buildings and the ancient citadel gate to look in. Perhaps since the 2011 "final" match between SLNA and Hanoi T&T, the "fire pan of Vinh City" has been crowded again.

Attack of SLNA players.

As expected by many fans, entering the match, both SLNA and HAGL sent 100% of their domestic players to compete with each other. Despite being injured, Tuan Tai (SLNA) and Tuan Anh (HAGL) were also on the field from the start. Under the cheers of thousands of fans in the stands, Coach Ngo Quang Truong's students entered the match enthusiastically. As for HAGL, it seemed that both coach Graechen and his students were frozen by the initiative of SLNA players and the heat of the "fire pot of Vinh city".

Nghe An fans are excited by their team's overwhelming play.

While the fans were still in their seats, in the 7th minute, after striker Tuan Tai's shot hit the post, center back Manh Hung quickly joined the attack and quickly fired a cannon to open the score for the home team SLNA. Having conceded a goal quite early, HAGL players played without confidence, they continuously made bad passes. The names expected from the mountain town team such as Tuan Anh, Van Toan, Cong Phuong... could not show themselves against the fierce pursuit of SLNA players.

HAGL's attacks focused on Cong Phuong and Van Toan, but these two strikers did not have much room to play against SLNA's tight defense. Perhaps, after the days of joining the U23 team in the 2016 Asian qualifiers together, it seemed that Manh Hung and Ngoc Hai understood Cong Phuong and Van Toan quite well, so HAGL's attacks were easily intercepted by SLNA's defense.

Unsuccessful in small combinations, HAGL players switched to long shots, but these shots lacked power and were easily neutralized by "spider man" Nguyen Manh. The "boys" of Mr. Duc played more and more immaturely against SLNA players. Meanwhile, on SLNA's side, the strikers including Tuan Tai and Phi Son played quite spontaneously. These players competed to show off their dribbling skills, causing HAGL's defense to be unsettled. If it weren't for the excellence of goalkeeper Minh Nhut, HAGL's net would have shaken more than once in the first half.

Entering the second half, Coach Graechen sent his players to attack SLNA's field, but just like the first half, HAGL's attacks were all blocked from outside SLNA's penalty area. Realizing that HAGL's young players were out of breath, in the 64th minute, Coach Quang Truong sent foreign player Abubakar onto the field to stir up the defense of the mountain town team. Although his technique was a bit clumsy, with his great stretching ability, Abubakar made HAGL players "smell smoke" in the ball disputes. In the 72nd minute, from an attack initiated by Abubakar, striker Tuan Tai passed the ball back to Phi Son who fired a tricky shot past goalkeeper Minh Nhut, raising the score of the match to 2-0 in the joy of victory in the Vinh stadium stands.

With nothing left to lose, coach Graechen sent foreign players Dragicevic and Thanh Hau onto the field to find an equalizer, but it was too late. The HAGL team's efforts only resulted in a free kick that missed the crossbar in the second minute of extra time of the match.

The 0-2 defeat against SLNA was a convincing defeat for Mr. Duc's "children".

Speaking after the match, Coach Graechen admitted that SLNA's defense played very well, while HAGL's 4-3-3 tactic had just been put into operation, so it could not create the desired breakthrough. Coach Ngo Quang Truong said that his players followed the right tactics, limiting HAGL's small coordination, which was the secret to this victory.

The 2-0 victory over HAGL helped SLNA continue to chase the top 3 of the rankings, while the mountain town team continued their difficult days as they are struggling at the bottom of the table.

Duc Dung