Da Sylva's poker made V.League more worth watching

Up to now, Saigon is the only team to earn 1 point from coach Chu Dinh Nghiem and his team at Hang Day Stadium (round 6).But since then, the Capital team has won all matches from round 7 until round 14.

Every time they play, they get 3 points, regardless of playing away or at home, against strong opponents like Than Quang Ninh or FLC Thanh Hoa. Meanwhile, coach Tai Em and his team just lost to direct opponent Nam Dinh at Thien Truong Stadium 0-1 and are at the bottom of the rankings.

Your Talent's Mark

The 36-year-old coach joked: "I just watched Argentina and Iceland at the 2018 World Cup and saw that Hanoi FC is a strong team like Argentina, while we are just an "underdog" Iceland.

Iceland’s style of play is to defend in large numbers and counterattack quickly. I also learned this style of play and applied it to my players in today’s match against Hanoi FC. It certainly worked,” Coach Tai Em happily said.

Da Sylva had the first poker of the 2018 V-League season. Photo: Internet

In the absence of midfielder Dugary, coach Tai Em still decided to leave out Hoang Thien, a player who has already scored 4 goals, to use Quoc Phuong, a player who just left FLC Thanh Hoa.

Quoc Phuong scored a quick equalizer after Oseni scored an early goal for Hanoi, right from the 5th minute of the match. This Thanh Hoa player has speed and physical strength, he controlled the left wing very well, not allowing Van Kien of Hanoi to join the attack. When losing the ball, Quoc Phuong retreated to join the defense effectively.

Up to now, Tai Em is the only coach to take 4 points from his colleague Chu Dinh Nghiem after 2 confrontations, breaking the winning streak of the capital team.

Thanks Da Sylva

In the first leg, 12 V-League teams only scored 7 goals against Hanoi, but in the second leg, Da Sylva scored 4 goals. The striker who used to play in Cyprus and Egypt contributed to the 5-2 victory, helping Saigon temporarily escape the 13th position. The Brazilian striker born in 1989 played for Ho Chi Minh City Club in the second half of last season.

Da Sylva played a total of 13 matches in the second leg, scoring 5 goals and contributing a number of assists. But when the boss Cong Vinh, with the ambition to bring Ho Chi Minh City into the top 3, decided to change foreign players and this player transferred to play for Saigon.

Van Quyet had to bear the sadness of his team being scored 5 goals. Photo: Internet

Facing the away team with the strong trio of Vietnamese MOS, Moses, Oseni, Hoang Vu Samson, the responsibility of scoring goals fell on Da Sylva's shoulders. In this match, the Hanoi coaching staff also kept extremely advantageous strikers like Thanh Luong and Ngan Van Dai on the bench. They also scored first in the 5th minute, it seemed like the home team at Thong Nhat Stadium would have to receive a rain of goals.

But, Saigon has Da Sylva, who has overshadowed the MOS trio including Oseni who are leading the list of top scorers this season. Da Sylva's 4 goals show that this foreign player has all the elements of a strong, skillful and incredibly strong striker.

On a day of sublimation, every time the ball came to Da Sylva's feet, the central defenders Duy Khanh, Duy Manh and goalkeeper Van Cong had to work extremely hard. Da Sylva's enthusiasm and efficiency inspired his teammates with the fire and confidence to defeat Quang Hai, Van Quyet and Van Hau in every confrontation on the field.

The heavy 2-5 defeat did not affect the situation of the teams in V-League 2018 much, the gap between Hanoi and Than Quang Ninh is still 10 points. But coach Tai Em and foreign player Da Sylva have made V-League 2018 less boring because now Hanoi FC is no longer invincible.

The fact that Saigon - the team at the bottom of the rankings - can still win and destroy the championship candidate team makes V-League 2018 more worth watching. Thanks Da Sylva!