Squandering opportunities, SLNA narrowly lost to HAGL in Pleiku
(Baonghean.vn) - In the match at Pleiku Stadium, the home team HAGL and SLNA gave the audience an eye-catching match with extremely beautiful goals. The highly rated Nghe An team's defense was challenged by the strikers of HAGL.
With Dinh Hoang's absence, SLNA's coaching staff arranged for Xuan Manh to replace his senior, while Ho Tuan Tai continued to play as a winger, supporting Michael Olaha and Joel Vinicius up front.
The Nghe An team started the game cautiously, playing low but had the first opportunities. In the 6th minute, Dinh Dong was the player who fired the first long-range shot of the match, the ball went hard but over the bar.
In the 10th minute, Michael Olaha dribbled the ball down the right wing before taking a technical shot into a narrow corner, unfortunately goalkeeper Sietsma caught the ball.
Playing at home, HAGL's midfield controlled the ball more but did not create many clear opportunities. In the first 25 minutes, SLNA's defense covered each other quite well and HAGL did not have any shots.
Stuck in approaching the 16m50 box, but a moment of brilliance from Van Toan brought the advantage to the home team at Pleiku. In the 24th minute, after receiving the ball from a teammate, the national team striker fired a shot from a distance of more than 20m, the ball touched Van Khanh and changed direction to defeat goalkeeper Nguyen Manh.
 |
| Photo: Anh Tien |
Conceding a goal, SLNA fought back to find an equalizer, but Michael Olaha and his teammates still did not have accuracy in the final situations.
In the 31st minute, Felipe Martins had a chance to face Nguyen Manh after Memovic cleared the ball, but the HAGL striker's close-range shot could not overcome the SLNA captain's brilliant tackle.
After a missed opportunity on the free kick spot. In the 40th minute, SLNA was awarded another direct free kick right at the 16m50 line. This time, Khac Ngoc took a straight shot, the ball hit the far corner, defeating goalkeeper Sietsma to equalize 1-1.
While SLNA fans had not yet had time to rejoice after the goal, Nguyen Manh once again had to pick the ball out of the net.
In the 43rd minute, captain Tuan Anh once again put HAGL up 2-1 with a long shot from outside the penalty area. In this situation, goalkeeper Nguyen Manh was out of sight and could not touch the ball.
The last minutes of the first half were exciting with opportunities created by both teams. The two teams entered the break with a temporary score of 2-1 in favor of HAGL.
 |
| SLNA's defense faced many challenges on HAGL's field. Photo: Anh Tien |
Right at the beginning of the second half, HAGL had a dangerous opportunity. Van Thanh's effort sent the ball across Nguyen Manh's goal but no HAGL player was able to get in.
In the 49th minute, SLNA was awarded a direct free kick right at the 16m50 line, but Memovic's powerful shot hit the post.
To strengthen the midfield and increase the attacking power, coach Duc Thang sent Van Binh in to replace Ngoc Toan. In the 67th minute, from a corner kick by Khac Ngoc, Ho Tuan Tai headed the ball close to the goal but the ball missed the crossbar by a hair.
A minute later, another opportunity came to him when Michael Olaha made a dangerous cross, the ball passed the reach of the HAGL goalkeeper but Tuan Tai could not touch the ball.
With 20 minutes left in the match, Xuan Thang was withdrawn to be replaced by midfielder Quang Tinh. However, when SLNA's attack had not yet found an equalizer, HAGL scored a third goal. From a pass from Van Toan, Minh Vuong broke the offside trap, piercing SLNA's net in a one-on-one situation with Nguyen Manh.
 |
| Long-range shots brought goals to HAGL. Photo: Anh Tien |
With the gap widening, SLNA rose up to attack. And the surprise happened in the 73rd minute when Ho Tuan Tai, in an attempt to cross the ball inside, accidentally passed straight into the HAGL goal, leaving goalkeeper Sietsma helpless. The score was 2-3 for the Nghe An team.
In the 77th minute, SLNA almost equalized 3-3, Khac Ngoc's cross brought the ball to Xuan Manh's position, his shot made the HAGL goalkeeper stand still but sent the ball wide of the post.
In the 86th minute, Michael Olaha was the one who brought the opportunity to SLNA with a cross that was right in Quang Tinh's range. The SLNA midfielder jumped up to head the ball but unfortunately it went right into the HAGL goalkeeper's position.
In the final minutes, despite great efforts, the Nghe An team still could not equalize and had to accept a narrow 2-3 defeat. All of the visitors' shots lacked the necessary precision. In total, SLNA's strikers had 10/21 shots on target, while HAGL had 9/12.
This defeat left SLNA still in 5th place on the rankings with 23 points. This is the 5th match without a win in all competitions for coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team. Meanwhile, with 3 valuable points, HAGL temporarily climbed to 12th place with 19 points./.
STARTING LINEUP
HAGL:TM Sietsma, Kim Bong-Jin, Duc Luong, Trong Sang, Quang Nho, Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong, Van Thanh, Ngoc Quang, Felipe Martins, Van Toan
SLNA:TM Nguyen Manh, Dinh Hoang, Memovic, Van Khanh, Xuan Manh, Khac Ngoc, Xuan Thang, Ngoc Toan, Tuan Tai, Michael Olaha, Joel Vinicius.
Crushing HAGL, SLNA 'maintains' Top 4 in first leg of V.League
(Baonghean.vn) - Round 13 of V.League, SLNA welcomed HAGL after going through the second half of the first leg without knowing victory and the brilliance of Tuan Tai, Quang Tinh, Olaha helped the home team end the series of lackluster matches.