Hai Phong - SLNA: Who will win the second half?

According to Soccerway statistics, the two teams have met 27 times in the past. It is worth mentioning that SLNA only had 9 wins, 8 draws and 11 losses in their history. But last season, SLNA had a surprising 3-2 victory at Lach Tray Stadium in round 17. Before that, in round 13 at Vinh Stadium, the Nghe An team had a surprising victory over Hai Phong, starting their streak of 8 consecutive wins.

Bad field, bear kick

Currently, Fagan and his teammates have 12 goals, including 7 goals at home and 5 goals away. Coach Truong Viet Hoang is a military leader who likes simple, physical playing style, relying heavily on the dominance of foreign players. Hai Phong midfielders are not afraid of collisions in the fight for the ball, after the departure of central midfielder Minh Chau, Quoc Trung, a player from Nghe An, also has an energetic playing style.

Guarding the Hai Phong goal is young goalkeeper Van Toan. Photo: VPF

The fact that 7 goals were scored in the second half, especially 4 goals were scored in the last 15 minutes of the match, shows that if any team is weak physically, it is easy for Hai Phong to score at the end of the match. Of the 12 goals scored up to this point, only 2 goals were scored by organizing systematic attacks from home, 3 goals from attacking style. Hai Phong has 7 goals from free kicks, including 4 corner kicks, 1 penalty. These are technical parameters that coach Duc Thang and Nghe An players need to pay attention to.

Usually the ball will be passed long for the trio Jermie Lynch, Mpande, Fagan to handle and this trio scored 4, 3, 2 goals respectively. Obviously, with 9/12 goals, the foreign player contributed significantly to the playing style and achievements of the Hai Phong team, Jermie Lynch had 3 goals with his right foot, 1 goal with his head and 50% of his goals came from counter-attack situations. Meanwhile, Mpande played with both feet, played the ball well in the air and was a card to develop the home team's slow ball thanks to his good passing technique. Fagan was the player whose job was to disrupt the opponent's playing style, ready to race to exhaust the SLNA midfielder.

Many V.League teams have the same opinion that the playing style of the Port City players can be summed up in 4 words: “bad field, bad football”. With 16 yellow cards and 2 red cards, Hai Phong is the team receiving the most penalties in the tournament.

Focus on the second half

Fagan is the player whose job is to disrupt the opponent's play, ready to race to exhaust the SLNA midfielder. Photo: VPF

This year, the goalkeeper guarding Hai Phong's goal is young goalkeeper Van Toan. Although he has conceded 12 goals, experts highly appreciate his professional ability. Playing at home, Hai Phong has only conceded 4 goals, a pretty good record. Hai Phong's weak point in defense is that in the second half, they conceded 9 goals because their formation was high. They also conceded 5 goals from set pieces, including 1 penalty and 2 corner kicks. Hai Phong conceded 5 goals when the opponent actively controlled the ball and attacked.

Hai Phong prefers opponents who play an open game like S.Khanh Hoa and B.Binh Duong. The physical advantage and having sharp foreign players makes Hai Phong able to turn opportunities into goals more often than their opponents.

Except for last season, SLNA has always been a favorite opponent of the team from the city of phoenix flowers. In the Hai Phong team, there are quite a few SLNA players, former SLNA coach Ngo Quang Truong is also sitting on the technical bench of the home team, so the two teams are familiar with each other's playing style. Therefore, this is an unpredictable match and is considered to be evenly matched, whoever dominates the second half will have more chances to win.

AT