Matches before the second leg of the National Cup quarter-finals: Neighbors Thanh - Nghe advance
(Baonghean.vn) - Except for Binh Phuoc, the remaining 3 away teams all had favorable results after the first leg of the National Cup quarterfinals. Surprisingly, Hanoi had a draw that felt like a loss because the head coach and captain received red cards. Meanwhile, SLNA not only "did not give up" but also had an extremely good match at Hoa Xuan Stadium.
Before the second leg, SLNA, FLC Thanh Hoa, B.Binh Duong and to some extent Hanoi FC are holding the advantage. The match between Hanoi FC and HAGL suddenly became more interested by the public because in addition to the technical issues, there were also tensions at the end of the first leg match at Plei-ku Stadium.
Drama
The 1-0 score in favor of B.Binh Duong does not reflect the fact that the match was quite good on Nha Trang field. With this score, B.Binh Duong has a great advantage when playing the second leg at Go Dau field. There is not much hope for S.Khanh Hoa if they cannot improve the quality of their shots on goal.
 |
| Coach Chu Dinh Nghiem will be absent from the match between Hanoi and HAGL at Hang Day Stadium. Photo: TA |
At home in Pleiku, HAGL has transformed from the 0-5 defeat to Hanoi FC at the beginning of the season. Against the away team considered a candidate for the 2018 V-League and National Cup double, “the children of the Mountain City” had an extremely hard-working and resilient match, drawing 2-2 at home.
This was the most exciting match of the season because it had all the elements: dedicated play from both teams, many goals, beautiful goals, red cards, and penalties. The controversy that occurred at the end of the match between veteran Thanh Luong and coach Chu Dinh Nghiem only made the return match at Hang Day Stadium more exciting.
In the return leg, Hanoi FC will have difficulty without both coach Chu Dinh Nghiem and captain Thanh Luong. At Plei-ku Stadium, only when Thanh Luong and Ngan Van Dai entered the field did Hanoi's ball possession rate increase from 30% and return to balance at the end of the match.
Thanh Neighbors -Art continues
The reigning National Cup champions SLNA had a match that was considered the best since the beginning of the season. Although playing at the sacred Hoa Xuan stadium, SLNA was the team that was organized better in attack and defense, even though they "received the West" and only used foreign player Olaha.
SLNA played with a relatively low formation but their long passes were highly accurate and full of surprise, allowing Tuan Tai and Van Duc to be the ones with the speed to accelerate and score.
The goalscorers for SLNA were Ho Tuan Tai (double) and Phan Van Duc. It was not until the 83rd minute that SHB Da Nang had an honorary goal thanks to Do Merlo. Looking at the game, the style of play and the way the goal was scored, no one would think that SLNA is the team ranked 13th in the V-League 2018 rankings.
 |
| FLC Thanh Hoa will likely face SLNA in the National Cup semi-finals. Photo: Trung Kien |
Looking at captain Duy Lam and foreign player Ewode playing in a 3-defender lineup, people can understand why SHB.Da Nang has conceded 13 goals, the most in V-League 2018. If they want to continue, SHB.Da Nang players must score 3 goals against the home team Vinh and not concede any more goals, this seems to be too much for coach Minh Phuong and his team.
As predicted, the home team FLC Thanh Hoa had no difficulty winning against Binh Phuoc, who were a bit young in terms of skill and also did not have much desire...
If it is not too surprising, SLNA will meet FLC Thanh Hoa again in the semi-finals and it will be a real challenge on the road to defending the National Cup championship.