Song Lam Nghe An lost to Saigon FC at Thong Nhat Stadium

With the home advantage, Saigon FC created a lot of pressure, pushing high to dominate the game. In the 11th minute, from a set piece, the ball was hung deep for Do Merlo, the Argentine striker headed the ball into the net. However, center back Igor Jelic successfully trapped the offside.

Exactly one minute later, the most significant chance of the match continued to belong to the home team. After coordinating and penetrating the penalty area, midfielder Woo Sang Ho finished diagonally, fortunately forSLNAwhen goalkeeper Van Hoang dived to make a miraculous save.

The storm continued to come to SLNA's goal. In the 22nd minute, Woo Sang Ho threw the ball very hard, the ball fell right into the hot spot, forcing center back Pham The Nhat to clear the ball to clear the danger. The play ended with a quick counter-attack by SLNA, but Bruno Henrique's technical shot found the right position of goalkeeper Van Phong.

SLNA's midfield was completely outclassed by the home team Saigon's strong midfield. Photo: Huu Thanh

The stalemate lasted until the end of the first half without any goals being scored. In the first 45 minutes, SLNA had to retreat very deep to play with a defensive counter-attacking strategy. Facing a very strong midfield with Van Trien and Matsui, the home team controlled the ball up to 65% and had the same 5 shots as SLNA.

In the second half, Saigon FC continued to dominate the game and created dangerous situations in front of Van Hoang's goal. In the 56th minute, Tan Tai went down the sideline at great speed before passing the ball very well, but SLNA's center back Xuan Manh made a timely clearance.

It was still a very dangerous move that Saigon FC created in the 60th minute. This time, Matsui pushed the ball down to the second line for Van Trien to run up and shoot very hard from afar. Van Hoang, although his vision was blocked, still had good reflexes to save the goal.

Phan Van Duc was closely monitored. Photo: Huu Thanh

At this time,Coach Ngo Quang Truongstarted to put Mai Sy Hoang and Cao Xuan Thang on the field to replace Dinh Dong and Dinh Tien with the hope of improving the ability to attack the flanks.

After a series of pressure, Saigon FC scored the opening goal. In the 68th minute, striker Do Merlo rushed down to receive a pass from his teammate, escaped from The Nhat's pursuit before unleashing a dangerous diagonal shot that defeated SLNA goalkeeper Van Hoang.

In the 74th minute, SLNA continued to make a substitution. Midfielder Phan Dinh Thang came on to replace Sy Sam, who played rather poorly. This helped the away team improve their game a bit. However, the home team's defense played very solidly.

SLNA's attack line played ineffectively with only 1/6 shots on target. Photo: Huu Thanh

In the 90th minute, SLNA had a great chance to equalize. From Mai Sy Hoang's precise cross from the left wing, striker Bruno Henrique chose a good position, jumped very high to head the ball but it went over the bar.

In the short 3 minutes of extra time, SLNA was awarded a favorable free kick on the left wing, the ball was put into Saigon's net but center back Igor Jelic had committed a foul before. The goal was not recognized. And the 1-0 victory for Saigon FC was also the final score of the match.

With this result, Saigon FC temporarily rose to 4th place on the rankings with 6 points. Meanwhile,SLNAThere is still a lot of work to do with only 1 point, falling to 12th place because there is no victory after 3 matches played. At the end of round 3, the teams will enter the break period due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

STARTING LINEUP

Saigon: TM Van Phong, Thiago, Cong Thanh, Manh Cuong, Tan Tai, Van Ngo, Van Trien, Matsui, Minh Trung, Woo Sang Ho, Do Merlo.

SLNA: TM Van Hoang, Dinh Dong, The Nhat, Xuan Manh, Igor Jelic, Sy Sam, Van Duc, Dinh Chau, Peter Onyekachi, Dinh Tien, Bruno Henrique.

Phan Van Duc bandaged his thigh during SLNA's first training session in Saigon.

(Baonghean.vn) – Some not-so-good news came to Nghe An fans when key midfielder Phan Van Duc had to bandage his thigh during SLNA's first training session to prepare for the match against Saigon FC.