Foreign defender scores, Song Lam Nghe An draws dramatically on Thanh Hoa field

In the 4th minute, the home team Thanh Hoa opened the scoring. Starting from a cross from Trinh Van Loi, striker Hoang Vu Samson comfortably headed the ball past goalkeeper Van Tien. In this situation, the SLNA defense lacked concentration.

After conceding the goal, the Nghe An team continued to attack and continuously attack to find an equalizer. During most of the first half, the ball control rate was up to 57% but SLNA only had 2 notable shots towards Thanh Hoa's goal. The most regrettable was Dinh Tien's miss in a face-off with goalkeeper Thanh Diep in the extra minutes.

The two teams entered the break with a 1-0 advantage in favor of the Thanh team.

Thanh Hoa Club took an early lead over SLNA in the match that took place on the afternoon of October 25. Photo: Phan Tung

In the second half, defenders Mai Sy Hoang and Ho Tuan Tai were brought in by SLNA to replace Nguyen Sy Nam and Ho Phuc Tinh in the hope of improving the attack. In the 54th minute, Dinh Tien continued to have a very good shot from a distance but Thanh Hoa's goalkeeper reacted and successfully blocked it.

Although not really dominating, Thanh Hoa still had chances to respond. In the 62nd minute, Thanh Hoa almost had a second goal when Dinh Tung finished close range into an empty net. Fortunately for Van Tien, center back Ba Sang was able to retreat and clear the ball on the goal line.

In the following minutes, SLNA continuously had opportunities to reduce the score. After Ho Tuan Tai's header was not strong enough in the 63rd minute, Bui Dinh Chau continued to have opportunities in the penalty area but Thanh Hoa's defender promptly cleared the danger.

Foreign player Ewonde is a steel shield in Thanh Hoa's defense. Photo: Phan Tung

At this time, coach Quang Truong continued to send young midfielder Tran Ngoc Anh in to replace Cao Xuan Thang. Although SLNA had more shots, they were wasting many opportunities. In the corner kick in the 69th minute, Gustavo beat goalkeeper Thanh Diep but his header went wide of the post.

In the 77th minute, foreign player Peter Samuel passed the ball to Ho Tuan Tai, unfortunately, the striker born in 1995 of SLNA shot too hastily and the ball went over the bar. In the 80th minute, SLNA was awarded a favorable free kick from about 18 meters away but the ball hit the wall. Although SLNA was awarded 3 favorable direct free kicks, they were all unsuccessful.

With less than 10 minutes left in the match, Vuong Quoc Trung was brought in to replace Ho Sy Sam. While SLNA was still busy attacking, the score was almost 2-0 for Thanh Hoa when Trong Phu's kick sent the ball just wide of the post in the 88th minute.

Center back Gustavo Santos scored a last-minute goal for SLNA. Photo: Phan Tung

In the 3rd minute of extra time, center back Gustavo Santos became the hero for SLNA when he jumped high to head the ball to equalize 1-1 from a corner kick. And 1-1 was also the final score of the match. This result helped SLNA get 22 points and maintain 10th place, while Thanh Hoa ranked 11th with 20 points.

At Thien Truong Stadium, DNH Nam Dinh and Hai Phong played an exciting match with spectacular score chases. In the end, Hai Phong FC won 3-2 against the home team with goals from Adriano Schmidt, Diego Silva and Joseph Mpande.

This result helps the Hai Phong team stay in the league with 1 round left. In the match at Tam Ky stadium, Quang Nam surprisingly defeated SHB Da Nang with a score of 3-1, thereby keeping the hope of staying in the league until the last round when having 15 points. Thus, Nam Dinh (17 points) must have a favorable result against SLNA at Vinh stadium in the last round of group B to stay in V.League.

STARTING LINEUP

Thanh Hoa:TM Thanh Diep, Dinh Tung, Minh Tung, Balic, Huu Dung, Thanh Long, Van Loi, Thai Binh, Ewonde Epassi, Van Hoi, Samson.

SLNA:TM Van Tien, Dinh Chau, Sy Sam, Xuan Manh, Phuc Tinh, Dinh Tien, Xuan Thang, Sy Nam Samuel, Ba Sang, Santos Gustavo.

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