Man Utd shares points with Chelsea; HAGL misses out on victory despite leading by two goals

MU draw Chelsea

David de Gea has made more errors leading to goals this season than in the previous five seasons combined. The errors came at a crucial time of the season, causing Man Utd to lose steam in the race for the top four. The draw left them three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea. With a goal difference far below the West Londoners, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are unlikely to produce a miracle in the final two games of the season.

Goalkeeper De Gea's mistake caused the Old Trafford team to be held to a 1-1 draw in round 36 of the Premier League on April 28.

Solskjaer did everything to help Man Utd find victory after three consecutive defeats. With the return of Ander Herrera, Man Utd used a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond midfield. Juan Mata played highest in midfield, supporting Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku. This was the framework that helped Man Utd eliminate Chelsea in the FA Cup in February 2019, except for the positions of De Gea and Eric Bailly.

The change helped Man Utd's attack improve. Lukaku was allowed to operate widely and his clever run gave him a chance to face goalkeeper Kepa in the fourth minute. From a long pass from Luke Shaw, the Belgian striker shot from a tight angle but could not beat the away team's goalkeeper.

Man Utd's attack showed optimism and they opened the scoring early in the 11th minute, after an impromptu combination. Lukaku appeared in front of the penalty area, chipped the ball to Luke Shaw to enter the penalty area. The English defender crossed for Mata to finish delicately into the empty net. The Spanish midfielder scored a goal to celebrate his birthday, and Man Utd ended a three-game streak without a goal.

The game opened up after the opening goal. Chelsea relied on Eden Hazard's explosive ability to attack. He repeatedly caused chaos for the home team's defense. "Hazard was like a lizard snaking between rocks," commented journalist Rob Smyth on The Guardian. Chelsea created many chances, but the next dangerous chance belonged to the home team, with Bailly's header going wide of the post.

It seemed like the first half would end with the home team's advantage, but goalkeeper De Gea made a basic mistake. From a long-range shot by centre-back Rudiger, De Gea failed to catch the ball, allowing Marcos Alonso to score. It seems that the 28-year-old goalkeeper has had psychological problems in recent weeks as he has repeatedly made basic mistakes. "The criticism will certainly be directed at De Gea, but don't forget he is Man Utd's best player in the post-Alex Ferguson era," commented Smyth.

De Gea's mistake made it difficult for Man Utd in the second half. However, Chelsea could not take advantage of the opportunity to take the lead. The match was constantly interrupted by injuries to players from both teams, from Rashford to Rudiger, David Luiz, Bailly and Willian. The pace of the match slowed down towards the end of the half.

Man Utd needed the win more than their opponents, forcing them to fight back in stoppage time. In a corner, Marcos Rojo jumped higher than everyone else and headed the ball into the far corner. Kepa was defeated, but Pedro promptly cleared the ball off the line. In the final minute, Gonzalo Higuain faced but shot straight at goalkeeper De Gea.

De Gea makes consecutive mistakes.

Aguero helps Man City reclaim top spot

The decisive moment of the match on the evening of April 28th came in the 63rd minute, with the help of goal-line technology. Aguero skillfully turned around, escaped the grip of two Burnley defenders, and then shot from close range. Burnley midfielder Matthew Lowton quickly cleared the ball, but goal-line determined that the ball had crossed the line by about 29.5 millimeters, meaning the goal was recognized for Aguero and Man City.

With three points earned at Turf Moor, Man City have again broken away, reclaiming the top spot of the Premier League table with a point more than Liverpool. With two rounds remaining, the two-horse race for the title promises to continue to be exciting until the last minute. Man City will host Leicester in round 37 on May 7, then visit Brighton in the final round a week later. Liverpool will visit Newcastle first, then return home to play Wolves in the final round.

The 1-0 scoreline did not reflect the game at Turf Moor, where City dominated the game in every way, with 74% possession, 25 shots and six corners. Burnley did not even get a corner and only had two shots, none of which were on target. However, before Guardiola and his team could smile with victory and regain control of their own destiny in the title race, they endured a truly tense 90 minutes.

Aguero celebrates after scoring.

Burnley have secured their place in the league and no longer have much motivation to fight for a place. But when playing at home, Sean Dyche and his team are still a very annoying team, with a concrete defensive style of play. Against Man City on April 28, the usual scene was almost the entire Burnley squad retreating to their own half, calmly repelling all attacks from the defending champions.

City went into the game two points behind Liverpool, who had beaten Huddersfield 5-0 two days earlier. Guardiola and his side knew that anything other than a win over Burnley could cost them their title chances. City, therefore, played with urgency and looked to get the ball up front as quickly as possible to launch attacks, especially after the second half.

The defending champions' efforts seemed to have been rewarded with a penalty in the 50th minute. However, perhaps due to an unfavourable viewing angle, referee Paul Tierney and his assistants failed to see the home player Barnes elbowing the ball after Bernardo Silva's powerful shot. Three minutes later, another clear chance for Bernardo was denied, this time by a save from home goalkeeper Tom Heaton.

Aguero's opening goal in the 63rd minute helped Man City relieve some of their frustration. But they could not use that momentum to widen the gap, as Jesus and Aguero both failed in their subsequent efforts. The 1-0 score made Guardiola and his players extremely tense for the last 10 minutes, including extra time. However, appropriate personnel adjustments to strengthen their defense, combined with Burnley's lack of sharpness in attack, helped Man City successfully defend their advantage until the end of the match.

HAGL draw regrettably

The mountain town team was held to a 3-3 draw by Thanh Hoa in the seventh round of the V-League on the afternoon of April 28. HAGL's first match under new head coach Lee Tea-hoon started off with excitement and drama, but the ending was not as they expected. The mountain town team continuously took the lead over Thanh Hoa, but because of a momentary lapse of concentration, they had to pay the price in the final seconds of the match.

Entering this match, HAGL was missing many key players, so coach Lee Tae-hoon had to use the central defender duo Trong Sang - Duc Luong and two defenders Van Son and Anh Tai to defend in front of goalkeeper Sietsma's goal. In the midfield, Viet Hung returned to join Tuan Anh, Hong Duy and Kien Quyet while the attack line still had the presence of Van Toan and Chevaughn Walsh.

Using a makeshift formation, HAGL had a better start. The mountain town team opened the scoring in the 14th minute, when center-back Trong Sang took part in a corner kick, taking advantage of goalkeeper Buu Ngoc's mistake in choosing the wrong landing spot to head the ball into the net.

HAGL's defense (in white) lacked concentration despite the attacking line playing brilliantly.

The early goal helped the home team play an exciting attack, but the defense overturned those achievements. In the 26th minute, Kien Quyet could not keep up with Van Thang in the penalty area, allowing the striker to cross. Gramoz tapped the ball close to the goal to equalize 1-1 for the Thanh team. The mountain town team then regained the lead when Walsh took advantage of the opponent's defense's mistake, skillfully handling the ball to eliminate goalkeeper Buu Ngoc and raise the score to 2-1.

It was the Jamaican player who scored again in the second half, bringing the score to 3-1. In the third goal, Van Toan was the one who played aggressively, eliminating the away team's defense to cross for his foreign teammate to finish with a tap-in shot.

Coach Lee Tae-hoon, after a period as Technical Director, somewhat understood the weaknesses of HAGL's defense. Therefore, after having a good game and a two-goal advantage, he sent Minh Vuong onto the field to replace defender Anh Tai, pushing Kien Quyet back to play left back. The Korean coach wanted Minh Vuong to join Tuan Anh to dominate the midfield area, reducing the load on the defense.

This adjustment quickly helped the home team dominate the game. In the 66th minute, Minh Vuong coordinated with Van Toan to help striker number 9 accelerate, eliminate Thanh Hoa defenders and pass the ball inside, but this time, Viet Hung hit the post.

Despite many attacks but not taking advantage of opportunities, Mr. Duc's team faced a cruel fate. Duc Luong was confused and committed a foul in the penalty area, giving Thanh Binh the chance to reduce the score to 2-3 from the penalty spot.

Referee Vu Nguyen Vu was very decisive in awarding a penalty when Rimario was fouled by Duc Luong. However, he ignored protests from HAGL and waved his hand to let the match continue when Van Toan faced goalkeeper Buu Ngoc and was pushed down from behind by Minh Tung.

HAGL took the lead early and created a jubilant game, but lost the victory at the last minute.

Van Toan himself later also had a missed opportunity, when facing the goalkeeper but his shot went wide in the 85th minute. This national team striker and HAGL will surely regret that missed opportunity, because in the 89th minute, the home team's defense made another mistake leading to the third goal.

A Thanh Hoa player kicked the ball hard from outside the 16m50 area, causing goalkeeper Sietsma to be unable to catch the ball and Van Thang was there to cushion the ball into the empty net to tie the score at 3-3. In this goal, defender Kien Quyet also made a positioning mistake when he stood below the opponent's striker, instead of moving up to let the offside trap fall on Van Thang.

Losing two points at the end of the match, HAGL is still in the bottom group with seven points after seven matches in the Wake-up 247 national championship. Meanwhile, this draw is not enough for Thanh Hoa to escape the bottom position. Coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team are still in 14th place with four points after four draws and three losses.