HAGL lost the match in heavy rain

Goals: Pedro 23', Geovane 55', Quoc Long (penalty) 83' - Hong Duy 47'.

HAGL has a habit of losing after each national team gathering. In the first break of the 2019 season, in March, the team from the mountain town lost 0-1 to Hai Phong away in round 4. In the second break in June, HAGL even lost three matches in a row in rounds 13, 14 and 15. It was from this series of failures that Mr. Duc's team fell into the red zone, even though HAGL's squad had the second most national team players, only after Hanoi.

Difficulties continued to surround HAGL in round 23 of the V-League. Tuan Anh, who played very well in the 0-0 draw with Thailand on September 5, was suspended for receiving three yellow cards. During the 90 minutes at Thong Nhat Stadium, it rained continuously and became heavier from the second half. The short passing style of play was affected, main striker Van Toan lost his scoring touch, and Saigon finished too well whenever they had a chance, so Lee Tae-hoon and his team had to accept defeat in both matches.

As a guest, HAGL started the game quite well, with Minh Vuong as the main striker. In the ninth minute, this midfielder threatened the goal guarded by Van Phong with a very powerful long-range shot. Two minutes later, Chau Ngoc Quang fell in the Saigon penalty area but the away team was not awarded a penalty. In the 19th minute, Xuan Truong had space in front of the home team's penalty area, but was slow to react and slowed down the attack.

Saigon had won against HAGL right in Pleiku in the third round, in a match that was not outstanding. Coach Nguyen Thanh Cong knew how to reduce the excitement of the players with a lot of skills but lack of experience from HAGL. Once again, this coach showed his skill in opening the score. In the 23rd minute, from a set piece situation on the left corner, Pedro Paulo escaped the white shirt defenders, before connecting with one touch, scoring against Wieger.

Having suffered losses in every way and being led, HAGL revealed inherent weaknesses that have existed for many years. One of them is experience. In the 40th minute, Minh Vuong had his shirt pulled by a Saigon defender in front of the 16m50 box. He could have fallen and waited for a free kick - HAGL's most powerful weapon, with good strikers like Xuan Truong and Minh Vuong. However, number 8 decided to continue dribbling and could not hit the target. In the 72nd minute, HAGL was awarded a direct free kick from 24m away, right in front of Saigon's goal, when they were leading 1-2. Xuan Truong had scored many times from similar situations, but this time, the curve that the midfielder from Tuyen Quang drew sent the ball about 50cm above the crossbar of the home team's goal.

In wet and slippery pitch conditions, many V-League teams will use long balls to find goals. But HAGL is not one of them. The only foreign player of the away team is goalkeeper Wieger, and when compared to Saigon's foreign players, the difference in quality of foreign players between the two sides is too great. In addition to Pedro's opening goal, the "Westerners" also left their mark on the remaining two goals for the home team. In the 55th minute, eight minutes after Hong Duy's equalizer,Geovane Silveira confidently controlled the ball and then shot low and dangerously from outside the penalty area, raising the score to 2-1. Seven minutes before the end of the match, Geovane broke through from the right corner, forcing the white-shirted defender to commit a foul. At the 11m mark, captain Quoc Long placed a low shot, sealing a 3-1 victory for Saigon.

With the victory on the evening of September 14, Saigon rose to fourth place in the scoreboard. Meanwhile, HAGL is at risk of falling to the second-to-last position - the position that must play in the relegation play-off - if Thanh Hoa wins against Quang Ninh tomorrow. The losing situation at Thong Nhat Stadium combined with the risk of relegation means that Hong Duy's masterpiece in the early second half does not mean much to the away team.

Line-up

Saigon:Van Phong, Anh Vu, Dinh Bao, Pedro, Duc Loi, Quoc Long, Van Trien, Xuan Toan, Van Ngo (Vu Tin 43'), Trung Hieu, Geovane (Ngoc Duy 86').

HAGL:Wieger, Van Son (Quang Nho 81'), Hoang Lam (Viet Hung 84'), Xuan Truong, Hong Duy, Minh Vuong, Van Toan, Trong Sang, Van Thanh, Ngoc Quang (Martins 66'), A Hoang.