What made SLNA easily win 3 points away from home at S. Khanh Hoa?
(Baonghean.vn) - Before coming to 19/8 Nha Trang stadium, the Nghe An team had lost all their away matches. Since the beginning of the season when leaving Vinh stadium, SLNA had only won against SHB.Da Nang. So what made coach Duc Thang and his team achieve a resounding 4-1 victory over the home team S.Khanh Hoa?
First of all, it must be affirmed that the home team S.Khanh Hoa is rated lower than Thanh Hoa, HAGL are the teams that have won against the Nghe An team. At 19/8 Nha Trang Stadium before meeting SLNA, coach Vo Dinh Tan and his team lost 5/10 matches, becoming the team with the worst home record in V.League 2019.
In terms of overall head-to-head record with SLNA, S.Khanh Hoa is dominating with 3 wins, 5 draws and only 2 losses. But for some reason, at home in 4 matches against SLNA, they drew 3 and lost 1, never winning.
The landlord "abandoned the bowl and left the tray"
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| After the victory, SLNA entered the Top 4, while Khanh Hoa fell into an extremely dangerous situation. Photo: VPF |
Therefore, coach Vo Dinh Tan and the players of S.Khanh Hoa decided to "go all out" in this match. They were eager to attack because according to the calculations of the S.Khanh Hoa coaching board, the central defender pair Cong Thanh and Zarour Chaher were strong enough to neutralize the SLNA striker pair Michael Olaha and Joel Vinicius.
Coach Vo Dinh Tan believes that the foreign pair Patiyo and Youssouf, supported by Ti Phong and Huu Khoi, will disrupt and force the visitors' attack deep into their home field. If everything happens as planned, S.Khanh Hoa will only have a chance to draw or win and they have decided to choose an open play style.
SLNA promotes its strong playing style
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| SLNA played explosively in the second half and won the match. Photo: VPF |
Tuan Tai's early goal pushed the game in SLNA's favor. They were allowed to play their signature defensive counter-attack, while Patiyo and Youssouf were still unlucky in front of goalkeeper Nguyen Manh's goal. Meanwhile, SLNA also had a bit of luck when the ball hit the post from the home team's foreign player's powerful shot.
The first half ended with a score of 1-1, forcing coach Vo Dinh Tan into a "brain-weighing" situation. The attack was not strong enough, but if he only won 1 point, it would not solve the desired problem. It was the hesitation in deciding clearly whether to continue attacking to win or defend to preserve the score of the S.Khanh Hoa coaching staff that made them pay the price. Meanwhile, the SLNA coaching staff directed their students to actively retreat deep to "set traps", leaving the midfield area for the home team to attack.
"The stick beats the back of the owner"
When seeing the central midfielder pair Dinh Khuong and Duy Thanh seemed to be inferior to Ngoc Toan and Khac Ngoc, coach Vo Dinh Tan directed central defender Zarour Chaher to move up higher. The "secret weapon" of pushing central defender Zarour Chaher up to play like a midfielder of S.Khanh Hoa was "guessed" by coach Duc Thang. The gap between Zarour Chaher and central defender Cong Thanh was thoroughly exploited by Khac Ngoc, in a fit afternoon.
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| Vinicius scored the most important goal since playing for SLNA. Photo: VPF |
Even if Tuan Tai had been more careful, the number 10 midfielder would have scored an early goal after Khac Ngoc's smart pass through the gap of the S.Khanh Hoa midfielder. Tuan Tai's goal to raise the score to 4-1 from the fatal mistake of goalkeeper Tuan Manh, who awkwardly threw the ball to the opponent's feet, only spoke of the heavy mentality of the home team's players.
The 4-1 victory helped the Nghe An team gain 30 points and climb to 4th place. This is the time for SLNA to take advantage of Khac Ngoc's through balls or Quang Tinh's crosses.
