SLNA - TP.HCM Confrontation: 'The key match' of round 6 of V.League 2020

In 6 trips to Vinh Stadium, the away team TP.HCM won 1, drew 2 and lost 3, the only win was the clash last season. 2 foreign players Mansaray and Ismahil scored to bring 3 points for the away team. In contrast, the honorary goal of Song Lam Nghe An belonged to Ho Tuan Tai.

If calculated broadly, from 2009 until now, the two teams have only met 11 times. Of which, the home team SLNA won 5, drew 3 and lost 3. That said, the young team SLNA is not an easy opponent to bully, even though Club President Huu Thang and the players Phi Son, Hoang Thinh, Cong Phuong, Sam Ngoc Duc of Ho Chi Minh City understand the home team's playing style very well.

Sublimation

In fact, before round 5, both SLNA and TP.HCM were not highly rated by experts. Because their playing style was lacking in identity, as well as their goals, people easily doubted the strength of both teams, especially TP.HCM spent a lot of money to buy players at the beginning of the season.

In the match against Viettel, the duo Huu Thang - Chung Hae-seong made 3 important decisions, the first was to terminate the contract with Lima, placing their trust in Huy Toan in the winger position. In the attack, both Xuan Nam and Phi Son sat on the bench, Amido Balde played as a center forward, and Ngoc Duc played as a right midfielder. Hoang Thinh replaced Van Thuan as captain, pairing with Korean midfielder Seo Yong-duk.

Phi Son will most likely only play from the bench. Photo: TP.HCM

Seo Yong-duk, Cong Phuong, and Huy Toan scoring against Viettel confirmed that the Korean coach's decisions were correct. Hoang Thinh restrained Khac Ngoc, and Cong Phuong had his best match since joining Ho Chi Minh City.

On SLNA's side, putting Alagie Sosseh on the bench was considered a decision to turn things around. The bold belief in 6 young faces who were playing professionally for the first time, including Thai Ba Sang (born in 1999), Bui Dinh Chau (born in 1996), Dang Van Lam (born in 1999), Tran Dinh Tien, Nguyen Van Viet (born in 1998) and Tran Ngoc Anh (born in 1999) has yielded good results.

The ability to move and stick to the Hanoi players all over the field made it impossible for the opponent to react. Remember, in the last 3 seasons, after 57 matches, coach Chu Dinh Nghiem and his team only had 4 matches without scoring a goal. The match against SLNA was the 90 minutes in which the home team at Hang Day Stadium could not control the game and conceded a goal.

Hot spot on the field

The key to the SLNA - TP.HCM match is how Dinh Chau and Van Lam will play when facing their senior Hoang Thinh. As for Cong Phuong, will he continue to excel in the attacking midfield role when facing the best defense in V.League at the moment? Mr. Chung must know how good Gustavo - Ba Sang are at defending high balls to adjust their playing style. It is likely that Sam Ngoc Duc will face Van Duc again, a meeting of familiar faces.

Will Cong Phuong continue to excel when facing the best defense in V.League today? Photo: TP.HCM