Song Lam Nghe An lost to Hanoi Police at Hang Day Stadium.

Veteran Trong Hoang scored the opening goal of the match. Photo: Hai Hoang

Despite having had a series of unsuccessful matches since the beginning of the tournament, coach Huy Hoang and his team still received a lot of support from Nghe An audiences. That is the best spiritual medicine for the players.Lam River Nghe Anhave more motivation to contribute a beautiful match in the match with Hanoi Police at Hang Day Stadium.

Quite a number of fans were present at Hang Day Stadium to cheer for Song Lam Nghe An. Photo: Hai Hoang

However, with home field advantage, as soon as the starting whistle blew, Hanoi Police quickly took control of the game and organized attacks on Song Lam Nghe An's field.

Coach Flavio Luiz's team soon made a difference when they won a penalty kick in the 7th minute of the match. From the left wing, striker Gustavo confidently held the ball, made some turns, forcing defender Vysta to commit a foul in the penalty area. However, on the penalty spot, Van Hau hit the post, missing the opportunity to open the score for Hanoi Police.

Escaping the defeat early, Song Lam Nghe An regained their confidence and continuously organized a variety of attacks. In the first minutes of the match, the Nghe An team showed their ability to coordinate smoothly and with high flexibility. That helped coach Huy Hoang's students create a surprise right at Hang Day Stadium when they scored the opening goal of the match in the 12th minute.

The goal came from a combination of two key players of Song Lam Nghe An. After a series of passes, the ball was passed down to Que Ngoc Hai on the right wing by his teammates. The captain of the Nghe An club sent a pass that completely eliminated the opponent's defense, Trong Hoang chose a suitable position to head the ball into the net of Hanoi Police.

The joy of Trong Hoang and his teammates after opening the score. Photo: Hai Hoang

After the opening goal, Song Lam Nghe An did not show any intention of defending, but still actively organized attacks on the home team. With the rising excitement, coach Huy Hoang's students continuously made varied attacks. On the two wings, Dinh Hoang and Van Huy were mobile, often exploiting the space between the opponent's center-back and full-back. The diversity in the approach to Sy Huy's goal by Song Lam Nghe An players helped the team create a series of opportunities that could have doubled the gap. The unfortunate missed situation belonged to Soladio, when this striker made an unintended tap-in after a precise cross from his teammate.

Soladio missed many scoring opportunities in this match. Photo: Hai Hoang

In the first 45 minutes, the speed of the match was pushed up very high by both teams, in between the opportunities created by Song Lam Nghe An, Hanoi Police with many good players in the squad also caused many difficulties for the away team's defense.

In the 31st minute, Gustavo Henrique managed to maneuver quite well in the Song Lam Nghe An penalty area, escaping the opponent's defenders, then fired a left-footed shot. Despite being out of sight, Van Viet had a brilliant reflex, diving to successfully save the goal.

Immediately after that, from a corner kick by Hanoi Police, the goalkeeper born in 1999 continued to have an impressive flying move to discourage the home team's strikers.

In the final minutes of the first half, Song Lam Nghe An took the initiative to play defensive counter-attack. And from the situation of Nghe An players' quick transition, Xuan Tien made a pass in sync with Soladio's movement. This striker fired a low cross-angle shot into the net of Hanoi Police. However, Song Lam Nghe An players were surprised when the referee judged that Soladio was offside. Reviewing the slow-motion replay, it can be seen that the linesman made a mistake in denying the away team's goal.

Entering the second half, with the home field advantage, Hanoi Police tried to raise their formation to find an equalizer. And right at the 54th minute, coach Flavio Luiz's students found the key to open the door to Van Viet's goal, bringing the match back to the starting line. The equalizer came from Tan Tai's precise pass, Le Van Do appeared in the penalty area, launched a beautiful volley, hitting the net of Song Lam Nghe An.

Le Van Do equalized for CAHN. Photo: Hai Hoang.

In the equalizer of Hanoi Police, once again the defense of Nghe An Club continued to show the same mistakes as in the previous rounds. No center back of Song Lam Nghe An followed Le Van Do, even though this player had previously made a move to enter Van Viet's penalty area.

Mistake after mistake, Que Ngoc Hai continued to make mistakes when he failed to head the ball, forcing goalkeeper Van Viet to react to push the ball away, the ball found John Cley. From a distance of less than 10m, the home striker easily tapped the ball to increase the score to 2-1.

CAHN's joy after scoring the goal. Photo: Hai Hoang.

The defense did not play convincingly, but the players in the front line of Song Lam Nghe An had a quite impressive match. Olaha, Trong Hoang, Xuan Manh, Dinh Tien, Soladio often created rhythmic coordination, causing much confusion for the Hanoi Police defense. In the 70th minute, Soladio turned and kicked the ball with quite a lot of force but it went right into the position chosen by goalkeeper Sy Huy.

In the final minutes of the match, Song Lam Nghe An used all their strength to attack, but Hanoi Police used the majority of their players to retreat to their own field to preserve the victory. Therefore, the match result remained 2-1 in favor of the home team.

On June 1, Song Lam Nghe An continued to stay at Hang Day Stadium to meet host Viettel.