Song Lam Nghe An 2-1 Tampines Rover: Nghe An has a bright chance to continue

Taking the field to welcome Tampines Rovers with the second team, without the mainstays Ngoc Hai, Van Khanh, Khac Ngoc, SLNA still had quite quality players in defense such as Manh Hung, The Nhat. On the attack line were Van Duc, Xuan Manh and foreign player Olaha.

The opponent entered the game with a 5-4-1 defensive formation, SLNA was 4-4-2. Therefore, the first minutes of the game were not really overwhelming and had to use long passes over the line, but Coach Duc Thang's students still easily got what they wanted quite early.

In the 16th minute, from Thanh Phong's corner kick, foreign player Olaha jumped high and dangerously shook his head to score against the team from Singapore. A goal from an aerial battle and showed the Nghe An team's ability to exploit dead balls quite effectively in the last 2 matches.

In the previous two matches, the people who made the two accurate corner kicks that helped SLNA defeat Ho Chi Minh City were Ngoc Hai and Van Duc.

SLNA's joy at the AFC Cup. Photo: Hai Dang

With the lead, coach Duc Thang's team played with more confidence. On the other side, Tampines also started to attack but did not cause much trouble for the home team Vinh's defense.

In this match, Le Van Hung's punches were indecisive and often created opportunities for the opponent to score. The goal that SLNA unexpectedly conceded came from such a situation. In the 38th minute, from a corner kick from Tampines, the goalkeeper born in 1992 left the goal to clear the ball, a player from the away team hit the ground from outside the penalty area. Irfan Najeeb headed the ball very quickly, causing The Nhat to touch the ball but still could not save SLNA.

In the 43rd minute, Phan Van Duc entered the penalty area from the left wing after a clever pass from his teammate. The U23 Vietnam midfielder turned the ball and let the opposing defender slip away but was unable to finish. He had to take another step before finishing and the ball went right to goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari. Immediately after that, Duc had another shot that went too high over the opponent's goal.

Facing an aging Tampines Rovers defense consisting of the central defenders Bennett (40 years old) and Mustafic (37 years old), SLNA failed to take advantage of their youth to score more than 1 goal in the first 45 minutes. The Nghe An team had 7 shots, 2 on target and had superior ball control (61.3%). Meanwhile, the away team was completely outclassed with 1/3 of their shots on target leading to a goal.

The opponent from Singapore created many difficulties for SLNA. Photo: Hai Dang

In the second half, goalkeeper Van Hung continued to be the biggest concern in the defense and Olaha was still the bright spot in the attack. Before, Olaha rushed into the penalty area to shoot but the ball hit the opponent's defender's foot and went out in the 51st minute. Immediately after that, a chaotic situation in front of the goal made Van Hung almost have to go into the net to pick up the ball, the opponent's close-range shot hit the post.

However, those were just rare opportunities created by Tampines, pressure and attacks were created by SLNA more in the following minutes. In the 60th minute, Ho Tuan Tai had a chance, his volley was very strong in the penalty area, the ball hit the Tampines Rovers defender and unfortunately went out.

After The Cuong came on to replace Sy Nam, Xuan Manh was returned to the right-back position. And in the 66th minute, coach Duc Thang sent strategic player Khac Ngoc on to replace Thanh Phong, a decision to increase pressure.

Before Khac Ngoc could warm up, SLNA's defense brought a heart-stopping moment to Nghe An fans when the ball hit the crossbar of Van Hung's goal. Finally, after tireless efforts, SLNA scored a goal to raise the score to 2-1 in the 75th minute.

From a cross from the right wing by a teammate, the ball hit the foot of a Tampines Rovers defender to Ho Tuan Tai's position and the striker's task of scoring was very simple. Up to this point, the main referee in charge of the match had ignored 2 situations where Olaha and Xuan Manh thought they had been fouled in the penalty area.

Match statistics. Photo: AFC

In the remaining minutes, SLNA still did not want to stop with 2 goals but the final score of the match was 2-1. Statistics showed that SLNA's ball control rate in 90 minutes was 60.8%, 17 shots and 6 of them were on target while the number of accurate shots of the away team was only 1/5.

With this result, SLNA still maintains the top position in Group H, AFC Cup 2018 with 10 points. The Nghe An team still has one away match against Johor DT of Malaysia to close the group stage of AFC Cup 2018. And if they get 3 points in that match, SLNA will surely enter the knockout round of the continental tournament./.

STARTING LINEUP

SLNA:Van Hung, Ngoc Duc, The Nhat, Tuan Tai, Xuan Manh, Van Duc, Thanh Phong, Sy Nam, Manh Dung, Manh Hung, Olaha.

Tampines Rovers:Buhari, Yunos, Sulaiman, Mustafic, Stephen, Bennett, Suzliman, Shah, Hanapi, Nawaz, Aziq.

"Million dollar version of Song Lam Nghe An" facing difficulties?

(Baonghean.vn) - In his second year as the manager of Ho Chi Minh City Club, Cong Vinh is determined to build this team based on the core of Nghe An players and expensive foreign players. After 4 rounds, especially the confrontation with SLNA, it seems that this plan is facing obstacles.