Song Lam Nghe An beat Nam Dinh in a friendly match at Vinh Stadium.

Song Lam Nghe An won against Nam Dinh in a friendly match at Vinh Stadium. Photo: Chung Le

On the afternoon of May 13, at Vinh Stadium, a friendly match took place between Song Lam Nghe An and Thep Xanh Nam Dinh.

This match helps the coaches of both teams to review and re-evaluate their shortcomings and continue to promote the strengths they have achieved after a period of implementing training programs. In addition, this match also helps the players of both sides regain their competitive spirit after more than 3 weeks of rest.

For Song Lam Nghe An, after the first 6 rounds without knowing the taste of victory, they temporarily breathed a sigh of relief after winning against Hoang Anh Gia Lai in round 7 of V.League 2023. This break is also an opportunity for coach Huy Hoang to improve the limitations in Song Lam Nghe An's defense. In addition, it also helps the Nghe coach find more options to increase the diversity of Song Lam Nghe An's attacking style.

In this friendly match, only Dinh Xuan Tien and Ho Van Cuong could not participate because they were busy competing at the SEA Games with U22 Vietnam. The remaining players were almost all brought onto the field by coach Huy Hoang to show off.

Soladio opened the scoring for Song Lam Nghe An. Photo: Chung Le

Looking at the match between the two teams, it can be seen that after a period of training, Song Lam Nghe An has brought a fairly smooth playing style. The ability to find opportunities in set pieces of the Vinh home team has also improved significantly. The clear evidence is in the situation of Soladio scoring the opening goal. The goal came from a corner kick on the left wing. Vytas, with his physical advantage, caused a chaotic situation in front of Nam Dinh's goal. Soladio was there at the right time to open the score for Song Lam Nghe An.

Song Lam Nghe An's second goal came after a series of smooth passes from the Nghe An players. Before veteran Trong Hoang scored, Olaha made a very reasonable pass.

The way Song Lam Nghe An played in this match brought encouraging signs. Because at the beginning of the season, Song Lam Nghe An often lacked ideas in coordination and thus were easily predicted and neutralized by the opponent.

The point that Nghe An team was not really satisfied with in this friendly match came from the defense. The goal that Song Lam Nghe An conceded was largely due to the mistake of catching people in the penalty area. The central defenders of the Vinh home team did not observe, allowing Pham Minh Nghia of the Steel Blue Nam Dinh team to easily head the ball into Song Lam Nghe An's net.

Trong Hoang scored to help Song Lam Nghe An win 2-1. Photo: Chung Le

At the end of the friendly match, Song Lam Nghe An won 2-1 against Thep Xanh Nam Dinh. Reviewing the match, it can be seen that the new tactical experiments that coach Huy Hoang has built in the past have brought quite positive signals. However, this is only a friendly match, so it is impossible to confirm the real strength of the two teams.

Round 8 of V.League 2023 will return on May 20. Song Lam Nghe An will host neighboring team Hong Linh Ha Tinh at Vinh Stadium. This match is the exact measure to evaluate the strength that Song Lam Nghe An currently has.