SLNA touches the 2017 National Cup championship

(Baonghean.vn) - Two goals by Xuan Manh and Phuc Tinh helped the Nghe An team gain an advantage after the first leg of the final.

Right after the starting whistle of referee Hoang Anh Tuan sounded, B.Binh Duong continuously put pressure on SLNA's side. For the first 10 minutes, the ball was often at the feet of the home team's players.

Meanwhile, the Nghe An team still used their familiar style of tight defense to wait for counter-attacks with the mobility of Phi Son, Olaha, and Khac Ngoc playing up front. Therefore, the pace of the match was quite slow.

It was not until the 14th minute that clear opportunities began to appear in front of goalkeeper Nguyen Manh and goalkeeper Tan Truong. Unfortunately, neither Hoai Nam (B.Binh Duong) nor Olaha (SLNA) could convert them into goals.

In the following minutes, the Nghe An team gradually regained control of the game with continuous attacks. The reward for those efforts was a goal by right-back Xuan Manh in the 19th minute, after jumping high to head the ball from a free kick by teammate Khac Ngoc.

The match took place with many fiery moves by players from both teams. Photo: Hoang Tung

That loss greatly affected the fighting spirit of the home team. Although they tried to fight back to find an equalizer, the attacks of the blue team were either incoherent or were easily neutralized by the SLNA defense.

Even many times, the small number of B.Binh Duong fans had to stop in their tracks because of the quick counterattacks of Phi Son and his teammates.

When the match entered the 35th minute, both SLNA and B.Binh Duong made substitutions. The player entering the field for the away team was domestic striker Phuc Tinh, replacing the injured foreign player Kovacevic. Similarly, B.Binh Duong also withdrew left-back Xuan Thanh to make way for young player Minh Hoang.

The game in the last 10 minutes of the first half was not too different, SLNA was still the team with a slight advantage in ball possession. The two teams took the break with a 1-0 victory in favor of coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team.

Midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc performed well in his role of leading the game. Photo: Hoang Tung

Entering the second half, B.Binh Duong immediately rushed to attack in search of an equalizer. Due to the heavy rain, referee Hoang Anh Tuan decided to postpone the match. Returning after about 30 minutes of postponement, the two teams continued their water battle on the wet field with many mistakes in handling the ball by the players.

In the 57th minute, SLNA was awarded a direct free kick about 20 meters from goalkeeper Tan Truong's goal, unfortunately, left midfielder Van Duc's shot hit the post and bounced out. In slippery field conditions, wet ball, it is not difficult to understand why both SLNA and B.Binh Duong had to use long, high passes into each other's penalty area.

The match was played at a fast pace with many situations of exchanging goals between Tan Truong and Nguyen Manh. In the 68th minute, SLNA unexpectedly increased the score to 2-0 after a close-range shot by substitute player Phuc Tinh. Just 3 minutes later, Hoai Nam had a good opportunity in the SLNA penalty area, but the striker's dangerous shot could not beat goalkeeper Nguyen Manh.

Player Pham Xuan Manh celebrates the opening goal. Photo: Hoang Tung

In the remaining minutes, the home team still refused to give up. Coach Tran Binh Su's students continuously organized attacks on SLNA's goal. The results of B. Binh Duong's tireless attacks were finally rewarded with Trung Tin's goal to narrow the gap to 1-2 in the 84th minute. In the last 5 minutes of the match, neither team scored any more goals.

The final victory belonged to coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team. This victory helped the Nghe An team to touch the 2017 National Cup championship trophy. The two teams will meet again in exactly 3 weeks (November 30) at Vinh Stadium./.

Thanh Hung -Trung Kien