Song Lam Nghe An: Hard to wish for more

In both the first leg away at Hang Day Stadium and the second leg at Vinh Stadium against Hanoi FC, Coach Huy Hoang let his players attack first and achieved what he wanted, the opening goal of the match very early. The goal from Olaha's header in the first leg, coming from a corner kick - a fixed situation, was the result of the siege from the beginning of the match by the away team Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA).

Dinh Hoang's goal in the second leg was a combination from Oseni to Mario and ended with a close-range kick from an attacking full-back in the 7th minute. And remember, just 2 minutes before, the player on the opposite wing to Dinh Hoang, Sy Hoang, also had a very regrettable shot over the bar. This evidence proves Huy Hoang's intention to attack from all directions, in which the 2 wings were encouraged to go as high as possible, and that was the "secret weapon" of this young coach against the extremely strong team of V-League, which had won 7 consecutive matches and was firmly in the top position thanks to its strong force, especially the national team and foreign players.

In the second half, Xuan Manh and his teammates tried their best but could not help their team take the lead. Photo: Chung Le

Choosing to attack first in both matches and scoring early goals was the first step of success for coach Huy Hoang. Attacking when Hanoi FC had not yet warmed up and immediately had to retreat deep and focus on defense was Huy Hoang's second step. Defense - counterattack has always been SLNA's forte. Only when playing according to that plan would SLNA have a chance to maintain their achievements, and even if they were lucky, they could increase the score, for example, Oseni's shot hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced into Van Cong's net in the second half.

By now, everyone knows that when SLNA plays aggressively, they get stuck, get counter-attacked and lose the match, as in the first leg, the result was not worth it. Also because more than anyone else, Hanoi FC is a quality team, it is not easy to impose the game, on the contrary, any team in the V-League is attacked by them and takes advantage. In this second leg, Hanoi FC has a great foreign squad, including Lucao, a Brazilian with good physique, good physical strength, and excellent technique, it is not easy for Ngoc Hai to "mark him to death". Having just been added and played in the last 2 matches, Lucao has scored 2 consecutive goals to prove that.

Unable to defend well when the opponent continuously attacked and found gaps to score, SLNA was like the first leg, tied the score and forced to raise the squad to look for opportunities. At this time, the away team was the team playing defense-counterattack, meaning that on the coaching benches of the two teams, they were always "planning and counter-planning" even though neither side achieved the desired result. A draw could satisfy both teams because at least SLNA did not lose to the powerful leader and was the team that stopped the 7-match winning streak of the capital team. Meanwhile, although Hanoi FC players could not win 3 points, they did not "lose" points when playing at Vinh Stadium. They still got 1 more point on the way to the championship ahead, still keeping the gap with the team behind at least 2 wins and 1 draw.

For SLNA, the absence of Van Hoang and Van Duc (in the first half) did not cause the team to lose quality as some people worried, but on the contrary, the machine still operated smoothly and effectively as usual. This is a good thing, stemming from the fact that foreign midfielder Mario continued to play well, although his physical strength was a big obstacle for this player to contribute more brilliant passes. What is even better is that Xuan Manh is getting better and better in the central midfielder position, constantly working hard but not showing any signs of being inferior to any player. When Van Duc showed signs of being overloaded and not shining in recent matches, Xuan Manh still maintained his progress when playing a new position that is not his forte, which is a real joy not only for SLNA but also for the Vietnam National Team.

The problem of SLNA at the moment is that the foreign attacking duo has not achieved the necessary efficiency, so the team has to look for "strikers" from other positions. Many people talk about Olaha's role, but the wide, sweeping, often far-from-the-opponent playing style of this much-loved foreign player often proves harmless and easy to predict. Meanwhile, if Van Duc or Xuan Manh do not play to their inherent form, SLNA will immediately no longer be themselves, deadlocked, and boring. When the team does not have a great foreign player like Rimario, Gieovani or Lucao... it is very difficult to perform quality plays. A defense of all domestic players, like Ngoc Hai or any famous name, will find it difficult to "catch foreigners" no matter how hard they try.

The high-quality domestic defense of Hanoi FC had suffered and been disappointed by Rimario not long ago, so today Ngoc Hai let Lucao go is not a concern. Perhaps, in the long run, SLNA still needs a foreign central defender to confront the great foreign strikers, then consider the positions of foreign midfielders or foreign strikers for a "backbone" of foreign players as a launching pad. It is also to say that it is very difficult to dream of a bright future, of a certain position when both domestic and foreign players of SLNA are not currently among the highest quality in the V-League. Both matches scored goals against the unrivaled candidate team is a good result, getting points is even better, it is difficult to wish for more, that is why...

Hoa Bui