Coach Quang Truong and Minh Duc 'speechless' with SLNA's foreign player Alagie Sosseh

Trailing at Vinh Stadium, Phan Van Duc's presence and Ho Tuan Tai's moment of brilliance helped SLNA escape defeat, drawing 1-1 in the first "Nghe Derby" in the V.League. After the match, both coach Pham Minh Duc of Ha Tinh and coach Quang Truong of SLNA were satisfied with the 1 point they got.

Before the match with SLNA in round 9 of V.League 2020, Hong Linh Ha Tinh received bad news when striker Victor Mansaray was suspended for the next 2 rounds due to a penalty in the match with HAGL. However, the head coach of the away team did not regret it but was satisfied with his players.

“My goal is 3 points, not just 1 point. In football there are regrets, but SLNA really played well, the match situation was that both teams deserved 1 point. Actually, Mansaray's absence had some impact, anyone who watched carefully would see that Hong Linh Ha Tinh without Mansaray is normal. In a team, one individual cannot solve the problem. Today, no one on the team thought about Mansaray, even without him, the coordination was better,” said coach Minh Duc.

Coach Pham Minh Duc of HL Ha Tinh is satisfied with 1 point at Vinh Stadium. Photo: Xuan Thuy

Head coach of HL Ha Tinh added more about the situation of conceding the goal: “We had 8 players participating in the defense in the loss but still conceded a goal. The players must learn from their experience. The defense lost focus in that situation. What I am most satisfied with is the players' fighting spirit. Honestly, HL Ha Tinh was lucky not to lose.”

Evaluating the new foreign players of SLNA, HL Ha Tinh and V.League in general, Coach Pham Minh Duc shared: “Foreign players are always a difficult problem for every team, this requires sympathy for the teams and I think we should share rather than criticize. Maybe they need a little more confidence to be successful.

As for SLNA, they have a foreign player named Peter Samuel who is very good, strong, energetic and causes a lot of trouble for our defenders. As for SLNA’s number 9 player, I am not impressed, and I cannot remember his name. I only remember he wore the number 9 shirt.”

Foreign player Alagie Sosseh is the player who annoys SLNA fans the most. Photo: Xuan Thuy

When asked by a reporter if SLNA felt lucky that HL Ha Tinh was without striker Mansaray in this match, Coach Quang Truong replied: "Football is a collective sport, you can't say that because one player is absent, it is lucky for another team. If Mansaray's absence is lucky for SLNA, then I want to ask you again, is HL Ha Tinh lucky that we had to take Alagie Sosseh off the field?"

Sharing more about the match, Coach Quang Truong said: “As you know, SLNA is facing many problems that need to be solved. When the results have been decided, I do not want to comment further on the refereeing work but want to focus on improving the players after each match.”

“In the case of central defender Hoang Van Khanh, he will return to SLNA to practice in about a week, but he still needs more time to see how his form and feeling are before he can play. At this time, SLNA's foreign player replacement issue still depends a lot on the epidemic situation,” coach Quang Truong added.

This draw caused Hong Linh Ha Tinh to fall to the second-to-last position in the V.League 2020 rankings with 8 points. Meanwhile, after 4 matches without knowing the taste of victory, SLNA is still ranked 9th with 12 points. In the next round, SLNA will play at home against Viettel while HL Ha Tinh will host Ho Chi Minh City Club.

SLNA shares points with Hong Linh Ha Tinh in the 'Nghe Derby' match

(Baonghean.vn) - Playing at a disadvantage in the first half and having to rely on luck, SLNA was able to avoid losing to Hong Linh Ha Tinh at Vinh Stadium.