Dissecting 'how' SLNA won against HAGL

First of allCoach Lee Tae-hoonrisked sending both Xuan Truong and Tuan Anh onto the field, placing faith in anchor midfielder Kelly in a 4-1-4-1 formation in defense. Having just returned from injury,Xuan Truong and Tuan AnhBoth are attacking midfielders, not defensive midfielders, so if they score first, the spirit of the away team's players will rise and vice versa.

Expert analysis

With confidence, SLNA had a pretty good match against HAGL. Photo SLFC

UsageSy Sam plays with Van Lamhas surprised many people, but in fact this is a reasonable combination. The two midfielders, one old, one young, do not seem to be interested in attacking, mainly doing defensive tasks to block the attacking directions of the away team. Both do not hesitate to commit fouls to stop the opponent from afar, the home side committed 14 fouls, twice as many as the opponent.

When in the middle area bothHAGL and SLNAunable to organize attacks by Kelly on the away team, while Sy Sam and Van Lam played aggressively, the attacks of both teams started from the wing. For a long time, HAGL and Hanoi FC have been teams with quite impressive wing play in V.League 2020, but this time Van Toan and Van Thanh had to face Xuan Manh and Van Duc, players with aggressive and effective playing styles.

The left wing of SLNA's attack was a fierce battle, many times Van Toan rushed close to goalkeeper Van Hoang's goal. On his return after injury to Xuan Manh, Van Duc played quite well, so he only had 43% possession but the Vinh team still managed to fire 16 shots. Most of SLNA's dangerous attacks were carried out on the left wing, often ending with long-range shots.

On the contrary, facing the tough and aggressive playing style of SLNA, the visitors had more possession of the ball but only had 5 shots, 2 of which were on target. Bad weather and the aggressive playing style of the home team caused the stamina of the "children of the Mountain City" to be worn down. The central defenders Damir Memovic and Trong Sang no longer had enough stamina to stick with the home team.

Martins Flipe, although not yet effective in his coordination with Tuan Tai, has made an important contribution in shaking up the away team's defense. The Brazilian foreign player's physique and physical strength have made it difficult for HAGL defenders to block the attacks. If he can improve his running and intercept the attacks of his teammates, this striker will be able to share the scoring task with the domestic players.

Faith returns

The fact that they lost two goals in the last 7 minutes of the match was the result of the assessment and evaluation of the opponent by coach Lee Tae-hoon and the HAGL coaching staff. When they decided to attack first to score first, but when striker Chevaughn Walsh was clumsy and Van Toan was unlucky, they eventually paid a heavy price. In the second goal, Damir Memovic was also broken by Phuc Tinh when he unexpectedly turned the ball, before scoring. The substitution of Minh Vuong for Xuan Truong could not prevent the one-sided game in the last 30 minutes of this match.

SLNA is in very good spirits after the victory at Vinh Stadium. Photo: Duc Anh

SLNA still has a lot of work to do, especially in organizing central attacking passes. But it cannot be denied that with their confidence, they had a pretty good match against HAGL in the sprint phase of the first leg of V.League 2020. Nghe An fans are hoping that they will bring this spirit to Lach Tray Stadium this weekend. It is true that "changing clothes" has changed fortunes!