SLNA vs FLC Thanh Hoa: Success or failure hinges on foreign players.

Van Duc's return has significantly strengthened the home team's attack. Photo: Internet

The foreign players of both SLNA and FLC Thanh Hoa have been in impressive form in recent rounds. Rimario (FLC Thanh Hoa) even scored a hat-trick against his former team HAGL and a goal against Nam Dinh before being sent off with a red card in the 5-0 thrashing of Than Quang Ninh. Despite the absence of his attacking partner, Pape Omar still managed to score a brace in that match, bringing his goal tally for the season to 10. In the disappointing draw at Cam Pha Stadium, Lynch Jemie also opened his V-League 2018 goalscoring account with two classy goals.

Looking back at the confrontations

This season, SLNA has faced FLC Thanh Hóa three times, winning one and losing two. In the first leg of the V-League at Thanh Hóa's home ground, SLNA lost 0-1, with their foreign players at the time being Ofere Edward and Pape Omar. Ofere Edward, the goalscorer, has since left the Thanh Hóa team. In the three matches against Thanh Hóa, two of which were away games, SLNA's coach Đức Thắng fielded the central midfield pairing of Sỹ Sâm and Khắc Ngọc, resulting in one loss and one win. In the crushing 0-4 defeat, the central midfield pairing of Khắc Ngọc and Ngọc Toàn was completely overwhelmed by the Thanh Hóa players.

While the first goal conceded came from a corner kick, with Minh Tùng quickly scoring from the scramble in front of goalkeeper Vũ Hải's goal, the subsequent three goals were scored when the defense's stamina had waned. When Pape Omar headed in from Trọng Hoàng's corner kick, the entire SLNA team retreated, but no one could mark the foreign player. Trọng Hoàng and Rimario Gordon's goals were both scored through direct attacks from the center, but the Nghệ An defense was exhausted and unable to keep up.

Rimario is a name that the SLNA coaching staff and players need to pay special attention to. Photo: Internet

While SLNA played a strong pressing game in Thanh Hoa to secure a 3-2 comeback victory thanks to Lynch Jemie's brilliance, FLC Thanh Hoa's coach Duc Thang had an even more impressive tactical performance in Vinh. Both Pape Omar Faye and Rimario disrupted the home team's play, rendering the two Vietnamese Olympic team players ineffective. Manh Hung's helplessness in marking Rimario Gordon and center-back Van Khanh's slip, allowing the foreign player to comfortably score the fourth goal, spoke volumes.

The form of Pape Omar Faye and Rimario (FLC Thanh Hoa) is better than that of the home team's foreign players, Lynch Jemie and Olaha. The Thanh Hoa foreign players also proved dangerous in aerial duels, constantly forcing Ngoc Hai to jump, which quickly exhausted the central defender. Two of the four goals conceded at Vinh Stadium came from corner kicks, when SLNA had a large number of defenders – a situation the coaching staff of the Nghe An team must analyze to determine the players' marking errors.

In Thanh Hoa's style of play, the two foreign players had less to do in defensive duties, which was an advantage. At the beginning of the match, Rimario did quite well in tiring out midfielder Khac Ngoc with his dribbling runs from midfield. The visiting team used many medium and long passes, allowing players with physical strength and speed like Trong Hoang, Minh Tuan, and Van Thang, in addition to the foreign players, to make their mark.

Leveraging advantages

The postponement of the derby allowed Xuan Manh and Van Duc to recover their health in time to play. However, that doesn't guarantee SLNA a victory if the home team in Vinh doesn't maintain control of the game from the start. To continue pursuing their medal aspirations, SLNA must attack to score goals and ensure they don't concede first. To achieve this, SLNA cannot allow the visiting team to push their formation deep into their own half as they did in the second leg of the semi-final.

Van Duc's return allows SLNA to execute well-placed passes for the number 20 midfielder to sprint forward. After scoring a beautiful free-kick goal at Cam Pha Stadium, Lynch Jemie will share the responsibility of scoring from set pieces. Olaha's versatility in the midfield will ease the burden on Khac Ngoc, preventing Sy Sam from running out of energy like in the previous match.