Looking back at the performance of SLNA and other V.League teams in 2019
(Baonghean.vn) - Throughout the season, Ho Chi Minh City topped the rankings 14 times but eventually finished as runner-up. Meanwhile, S.Khanh Hoa's team had 21 rounds of red light and finally had to leave V.League when they missed the chance to decide for themselves in the penultimate round.
This is a season where the final round only had 21,000 spectators, many stadiums were empty. There were not many tense, fierce matches as everyone expected.
Two horse race
This year's championship race really only has 2 names: Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Coach Chu Dinh Nghiem's team has been ranked number 1 12 times, the Korean coach's team has been ranked number 14 times. After round 18, the team at Thong Nhat Stadium is only in 2nd place until the end of the season.
This is also the season when the capital team only ranked in the top 2 for 26 rounds, showing absolute strength. Van Quyet and his teammates also had a lightning-fast "sprint" with 6 consecutive wins from round 19 to 24, actually winning the V.League 2 rounds early, so Hanoi was able to relax, otherwise the number of wins would have continued.
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| The capital team only finished in the top 2 for 26 rounds (ranked 1st in 14 rounds). Photo: HNFC. |
After round 10, Than Quang Ninh ranked 3rd and except for round 21, they dropped to 5th while coach Phan Thanh Hung's team stuck to 3rd place. No team in V.League is more deserving than the players from the Mining region for this position when the season ends. The Mining region team is one of the few clubs with a typical playing style, proactively holding the ball to attack the opponent, having the 2nd most ball possession time in V.League 57.5% (only after Hanoi).
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| SLNA players celebrate the goal together. Photo: Archive |
SLNA also had a series of 4 draws from round 7 to round 10, no V.League team has achieved this record. Than Quang Ninh and SHB.Da Nang also only had 3 draws and then lost, while Quang Nam ended the season after 3 draws. It is true that "SLNA does not score against any team, but any team that wants to score against them will have to work hard".
This season, very few teams have had stable performance, such as Hanoi with a 6-match winning streak, Quang Nam with a 4-match winning streak. Throughout the season, only B.Binh Duong, Hai Phong, HAGL, TP.HCM, Saigon, Viettel each had 3 consecutive wins once. SLNA also only had 2 consecutive wins at most (rounds 5 and 6).
Days to forget
Thanh Hoa is a team that has been in 14th place for 4 rounds and it was not until after the play-off that they knew that they were officially relegated. No one is as “miserable” as the coaching staff and players of Thanh Hoa because after round 15 they no longer enjoyed the taste of victory. 9 losses, 2 draws is truly a period of time that no one wants to remember.
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| Quang Nam fans witnessed their team's sprint of 4 consecutive wins. Photo: QNFC. |
The army team also lost 3 matches from round 20 to 23, similar to SHB.Da Nang from round 19 to 21. Duoc Nam Dinh also recovered with a victory in round 5 after losing 4 consecutive matches from round 2 to round 4. The Highlands team, which is made up of all national players and U23 Vietnam, also lost 3 consecutive matches twice, from round 2 to round 4 and from round 13 to round 15.
Coach Truong Viet Hoang's farewell to Hai Phong was not a happy one, Hai Phong lost 3 consecutive matches at the end of the season, like giving up. Before that, they had 4 consecutive losses from round 11 to 14 along with the departure of Dinh Bao and Vuong Quoc Trung, 2 players from Nghe An who were the pillars of this team.
