Defensive mistakes, Song Lam Nghe An accepts defeat against Nam Dinh

Coach Huy Hoang's sadness when Song Lam Nghe An had to accept defeat against Nam Dinh. Photo: Hai Hoang

Entering round 6 of V.League 2023, coach Huy Hoang decided to keep the same starting lineup as in the draw against Binh Duong in the previous round.

On the other hand, Nam Dinh also did not have many changes in the starting lineup compared to the draw with Khanh Hoa in round 5. Notably, 3 former Song Lam Nghe An players: Nguyen Manh, Van Khanh, Khac Ngoc were all on the field from the start.

Xuan Tien had a beautiful shot, but Nguyen Manh played excellently to block it. Photo: Chung Le

With thousands of home fans cheering on, Nam Dinh still entered the match cautiously. The ball was mainly circulated safely by the home team in the midfield area. In this match, Xuan Manh continued to be arranged by coach Huy Hoang to play in the role of anchor midfielder. With his strength being physical strength, the midfielder wearing the number 7 shirt of Song Lam Nghe An showed quite good blocking ability.

Therefore, it was not until the 16th minute that Nam Dinh's Samuel was able to make his first shot. However, with the reasonable impact of Que Ngoc Hai, the header of the striker wearing the number 9 shirt of Nam Dinh team did not cause any difficulty for Van Hoang.

Song Lam Nghe An mainly passed the ball high to the strikers, so it was easily cleared by Nam Dinh's defense. Photo: Chung Le

On the home team's side, striker Hendrio often moved to the wing to create play for his teammates. The cunning of this striker wearing the number 10 shirt caused many difficulties for the defense of Song Lam Nghe An. In the 24th minute, Hendrio made a turn and then sent a pass to eliminate the defense of the away team, but Trong Dai, in a face-to-face position with Van Hoang, could not shake the net of Song Lam Nghe An.

The pressure was increasingly increased by Nam Dinh. To limit the home team's attacks, Song Lam Nghe An's formation had to retreat quite deep. However, in the 31st minute, from a lightning counterattack, Xuan Tien almost scored for Song Lam Nghe An. Xuan Tien had the ball in front of the opponent's penalty area, he made a fake move to eliminate the Nam Dinh defender's pursuit, before launching a beautiful curling shot, but Nguyen Manh played excellently to save the goal.

Quite a good competition day for Khac Ngoc. Photo: Hai Hoang

With the great pressure created by Nam Dinh, Song Lam Nghe An's defense made a mistake. In the 36th minute, Thai Ba Sang passed the ball back to Van Hoang but lacked strength. Samuel quickly seized the opportunity, kicked the ball coolly, and scored against Song Lam Nghe An, opening the score for Nam Dinh.

After conceding the goal, coach Huy Hoang's players still could not organize a clear coordination. The ball was mainly passed to the striker duo Soladio and Olaha. Therefore, Nam Dinh's defense did not have much difficulty in resolving it.

In the second half, Song Lam Nghe An tried to push up their formation, Que Ngoc Hai was asked by coach Huy Hoang to attack. However, the Nghe team's attacks lacked ideas, so they were easily neutralized by the home team.

In the 71st minute, Song Lam Nghe An also found a clear opportunity from Xuan Tien's corner kick. However, from less than 5m away, Soladio headed the ball straight into Nguyen Manh's body.

In order to create more attacking ideas for Song Lam Nghe An, coach Huy Hoang decided to take Xuan Tien out and replace him with Dinh Tien. However, with only more than 10 minutes on the field, the midfielder wearing the number 15 shirt could not help the Nghe An team's attacks become more effective.

So the result 1-0 in favor of Nam Dinh was maintained until the end of the match.

On April 15, Song Lam Nghe An will return to Vinh Stadium to welcome Hoang Anh Gia Lai.