Playing with one less man, SLNA lost to HAGL in Pleiku

Visiting Pleiku, SLNA faced many difficulties. The disadvantage not only came from playing away but also from not having the strongest squad. In addition to the suspended central defender Hoang Van Khanh, the two new players Igor Jelic and Bruno Henrique were still unable to make it into the starting lineup.

Compared to the previous match, The Nhat and Ba Sang were the central defenders, Dinh Tien was placed in the starting lineup from the beginning to replace Phan Dinh Thang. The two top attackers were still Peter Samuel and Filipe Martins.

The first few minutes,SLNAentered the game cautiously with a defensive counter-attacking style. The home team took the initiative but had to accept the first dangerous situation created by SLNA. In the 12th minute, Phan Van Duc broke the offside trap, received a pass from Martins and faced goalkeeper Tuan Linh but was unable to shoot.

Immediately, HAGL also got the answer. Van Toan's effort gave Brandao a chance to finish close to the goal. The ball went close to the crossbar of SLNA's goal.

Striker Martins opened the scoring for SLNA. Photo: VPF

In this match, Phan Van Duc was the most dangerous explosive of SLNA and it was his breakthrough that brought a corner kick in the 17th minute. On the free kick in the 17th minute, the ball came to midfielder Dinh Chau and his shot caused chaos in the HAGL defense. Striker Martins took advantage of the opportunity to open the score with a close-range shot.

After conceding the goal, HAGL once again pressed forward and had a fierce response. In the 22nd minute after the corner kick, Cong Phuong handled the ball very skillfully, he made a swipe and the ball hit the SLNA goal post.

The turning point of the match came in the 36th minute. Referee Ngo Duy Lan gave a second yellow card to defender Thai Ba Sang after a foul on Van Toan, forcing SLNA to play with one less player early on. Immediately, SLNA's coaching staff withdrew Sy Sam and sent in defender Igor Jelic to strengthen the defense.

Thai Ba Sang's red card was the turning point of the match. Photo: VPF

The pressure created by HAGL was huge in the final minutes of the first half. However, goalkeeper Van Hoang and the defense still played very focused, helping SLNA's net to remain intact.

Right at the beginning of the second half, midfielder Phan Dinh Thang was brought in to replace Dinh Tien. A change in the midfield allowed Phan Van Duc to play on the right wing. Despite being short-handed, SLNA still had clear counter-attacking opportunities to raise the score to 2-0 from shots by Martins or Van Duc.

Finally, after a series of difficult situations, SLNA conceded a goal. In the 65th minute, midfielder Minh Vuong entered in a favorable position to receive the ball from the left wing after a pass from Brandao and made a very tricky low shot to equalize 1-1 HAGL.

SLNA played with great resilience. Photo: VPF

After the equalizer, SLNA continued to make changes. This time Sy Nam replaced Dinh Dong and Xuan Manh switched to the left-back position. Despite having one more player, it was not until the 84th minute that HAGL scored the first goal.

From a dribbling attempt by Brandao, SLNA's defense was in chaos, allowing Van Toan to handle the ball extremely quickly outside SLNA's penalty area before unleashing a tricky shot that defeated goalkeeper Van Hoang.

In the 3 minutes of extra time, SLNA could not reverse the situation and accepted defeat with the final score of 1-2. With this first victory, HAGL got the first 3 points atV.League 2021Meanwhile, SLNA only got 1 point after 2 rounds of disadvantage due to penalty cards.

STARTING LINEUP

HAGL: TM Tuan Linh, Memovic, Kim Dong Su, Huu Tuan, Van Thanh, Xuan Truong, Minh Vuong, Hong Duy, Cong Phuong, Van Toan, Brandao.

SLNA: Van Hoang, Xuan Manh, The Nhat, Ba Sang, Dinh Dong, Van Duc, Sy Sam, Dinh Chau, Dinh Tien, Felipe Martins, Peter Samuel.