'Great War' Song Lam Nghe An - Hanoi Club: Hardships reveal heroes

Playing 12 matches, losing 8 matches and winning only 3 matches is an unacceptable achievement. In the past, the Nghe team had fallen into this situation in the 2018 season. With the stars Ngoc Hai, Khac Ngoc, Michael Olaha, the Nghe team still ended the first 12 matches with 6 losses, 5 draws and only 1 win.

There was no victory at Vinh Stadium at that time and everything was in a state of panic, but in the second leg, the Nghe An team rose up with 8 consecutive wins to finish 4th overall. That achievement will be difficult to repeat because most of the stars of that day have left, and the V.League 2021 format also forcedSLNAmust play 7 matches in the return leg with the goal of staying in the league.

SLNA will rise up in the most difficult times.. Photo: Duc Anh

However, Phan Van Duc's immediate task is the match against Hanoi FC at Vinh Stadium before stabilizing the squad for Phase II. This is the last chance for SLNA to improve their score a bit, avoiding the risk of relegation.

Hanoi FC this season is no longer itself. After parting with coach Chu Dinh Nghiem, the club has a new head coach Park Chung-kyun, but the capital team's performance has not yet satisfied fans. After 12 matches, Hanoi won 5, drew 1 and lost 6.

This result forces the away team to win to have any hope of entering the group of 6 teams and have to wait for the results of the other matches. It can be said that,Hanoi Clubstill have not escaped the crisis period and having to visit SLNA in this situation is also a challenge for them.

Dang Van Lam, the player who defeated Hanoi last season, is racing against time to be able to play in the next match. Photo: Duc Anh

SLNA has nothing to lose and is in a corner, Hanoi will likely face fierce resistance from the Nghe An team. Although their strength is not strong, with home field advantage and if they do a good job of ideological work, SLNA can absolutely do something against this opponent.

In the past 25 clashes, SLNA is at a disadvantage in terms of head-to-head record with 5 wins, 10 draws and 10 losses. Remember inV.LeagueIn 2020, SLNA was the team that broke Hanoi's unbeaten record at Hang Day after many years with the only goal of Dang Van Lam. Since then, Hanoi is no longer SLNA's obsession.

Regarding the force situation, SLNA is playing with a patchwork squad without Van Khanh and Igor Jelic. In terms of foreign and domestic player quality, Hanoi is also on a different level compared to SLNA. However, Hanoi's problem is the mentality of having to win, the lack of stability under the new head coach and mentality.

Coach Huy Hoang is the spiritual support of SLNA. Photo: Xuan Thuy

The explanation for Hanoi’s poor performance could be due to injuries to key players such as Van Hau, Dinh Trong, Hung Dung… The capital team conceded 14 goals but their attack was still very strong with 17 goals. Of which, Geovane had 6 goals and Bruno Catanhede had 3 goals. The scoring record of Hanoi’s foreign players could not be called good, but still “balanced” the total number of goals scored by SLNA (7 goals).

The disadvantage and concern of SLNA will be the problem of aerial balls when they lack their best central defenders, Van Khanh and Igor Jelic. Central defenders The Nhat - Ba Sang and other positions are mostly under 1m80 tall. Hanoi FC is very good at set pieces and has very good headers such as Bui Hoang Viet Anh, Nguyen Thanh Chung... Many of SLNA's goals have come from set pieces this season.

Although it is difficult, football cannot predict anything. What SLNA needs to do now is to relax and play a "good" match to regain their spirit. Coach Nguyen Huy Hoang with his steel, passion and battle experience can help the players find confidence. The match against Hanoi on May 7th is worthy of being a match where SLNA players can show all they have, especially the spirit and determination.