HAGL suffered a crushing defeat against SLNA at Vinh Stadium.

(Baonghean.vn) - VWith their fiery attacking style and superior performance against their opponents, SLNA secured a convincing 2-0 victory.

Returning home after a disappointing 1-3 away defeat, coupled with rumors of favoritism towards Que Ngoc Hai, caused turmoil in the Song Lam dressing room. It was thought that this would make the ship steered by Nguyen Duc Thang even more unstable. But no, today (March 18th) in Vinh, with a fiery attacking style and a clear advantage over their opponent, SLNA secured a convincing victory.

Immediately after the opening whistle, SLNA surprised their opponents with a goal in the 55th second. The goal was scored by Olaha, his first goal for SLNA. Photo: Duc Anh.

Entering the match at Vinh Stadium, neither SLNA nor HAGL achieved the desired results. After 9 rounds, with 9 points, SLNA is currently ranked 11th in the standings.

Meanwhile, the visiting team, despite being expected by the media and fans to have reached their peak, fared no better. In their last two matches, Coach Nguyen Quoc Tuan's team suffered easy defeats. This result caused HAGL to plummet from their highest position in recent seasons (5th place) in the standings to 10th place.

Given this context, the match between SLNA and HAGL is crucial for both teams in their difficult relegation battle.

Returning to the main events of the match, surprisingly, even before the spectators had settled into their seats, the visitors' net was already shaken. From an attack down the left wing, Henry delivered a perfect pass into the 5.5-meter area. Olaha rushed in and tapped the ball into the net from close range to open the scoring. Thus, after much criticism for his ineffective performances, yet still being trusted by coach Nguyen Duc Thang, Olaha did not disappoint his coach with this crucial goal.

In this goal, although Phi Son didn't directly assist, his skillful and beautiful dribbling led to a pass that tore through HAGL's defense, creating an opportunity for Henry to provide the assist, and Olaha simply scored.

After breaking the deadlock, SLNA, feeling more relaxed, completely dominated their opponents. Photo: Duc Anh.

Having scored an early goal, the home team players seemed to shed the heavy psychological burden after a series of unfavorable results. The passing combinations of Phi Son, Khac Ngoc, and their teammates were very precise and fluid.

Just five minutes after scoring the opening goal, Olaha nearly scored a second goal with a superb header, but unfortunately, his header went just over goalkeeper Van Tien's crossbar.

In the 18th minute, Olaha returned the favor to Henry with a well-placed pass into the 5.5-meter area. Henry took a quick shot into the near corner; the ball traveled low and dangerously, but the visiting goalkeeper still managed to dive and push the ball away from the goal.

Just two minutes later, from a free kick on the right wing taken by Ho Khac Ngoc, Que Ngoc Hai neatly controlled the ball inside the penalty area, then executed a very skillful shot that completely beat goalkeeper Van Tien. Unfortunately, the shot from the captain Ngoc Hai hit the crossbar and went out of the goal.

Meanwhile, Cong Phuong and his teammates had a very poor game. Throughout the first half, the team from the mountainous region failed to register a single shot on goal against goalkeeper Nguyen Manh. Photo: Duc Anh.

With only a few minutes left in the first half, SLNA were awarded a corner kick on the right wing. The ball was passed back to Sy Nam, who unleashed a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, beating goalkeeper Van Tien.Fortunately for the team from the mountain town, one of their defenders still managed to cover and clear the ball right on the goal line.

From the visitors' perspective, conceding a goal so early disrupted HAGL's rhythm. As a result, a team known for its cohesive and attractive style of play completely disappeared, giving way to a game of long passes that were not much different from defensive clearances.

Even highly-regarded names like Cong Phuong, Van Toan, Van Thanh, and Hong Duy – players who were called up to the national team for this training camp – were easily isolated by veteran midfielder Van Vinh or midfielders Ngoc Duc and Khac Ngoc of the home team.

Therefore, they were forced to dribble the ball, often losing possession, passing it directly to SLNA players, or having the ball easily taken away by the home team. With such a stagnant style of play, it's no surprise that throughout the first half, the team from the mountain town didn't manage a single shot on goal against goalkeeper Nguyen Manh, while SLNA had seven shots. The score at halftime was 1-0 in favor of SLNA.

The goal that sealed the 2-0 victory was scored by midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc, wearing jersey number 12. Photo: Duc Anh.

Phi Son (center) and his teammates celebrate a goal. In this match, Phi Son overshadowed his younger teammate Cong Phuong; he was the focal point of every SLNA attack, and all of the home team's dangerous attacks originated from the feet of the Vietnamese "Ronaldo". Photo: Duc Anh.

Entering the second half, HAGL started more proactively; however, due to their lack of experience and physical fitness, they still failed to create any opportunities in front of goalkeeper Nguyen Manh's goal. Meanwhile, coach Nguyen Duc Thang seemed to instruct his players to play more defensively in their own half and wait for counter-attacks.

This style of play proved very effective, especially considering that the two foreign strikers, while not outstanding, were greatly aided by HAGL's weak defense. In the 78th minute, from a quick counter-attack, Olaha delivered a pass into the visitors' penalty area for Henry. Although the first shot from the foreign striker wearing number 45 was saved by goalkeeper Van Tien, midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc was quick to react and unleashed a powerful shot to make the score 2-0.

Having conceded a second goal with little time left in the match, despite their best efforts, the only notable moment for the visiting team was Hong Duy's free kick from the right wing hitting the crossbar of goalkeeper Nguyen Manh's goal. As for the home team, they showed little interest in attacking as victory was already firmly in their grasp.

The fans in Thanh Vinh once again fully enjoyed the joy of victory brought by coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team. Photo: Duc Anh.

Having lost their third consecutive match, the team from the mountainous region still only has 10 points after 10 rounds and has dropped to 11th place, a position previously held by SLNA. For Coach Nguyen Duc Thang's team, this victory not only secured them a full three points at Vinh Stadium and a 10th-place finish in the standings, but also provided a huge morale boost for the challenging road ahead.

Furthermore, with their excellent attacking performance, it seems the SLNA players have hit their stride. With this style of play, if the foreign players can improve their finishing, SLNA will surely progress further and soon escape the risky relegation battle.

Reporters' Team