Song Lam Nghe An and the story of playing with one less player

For the second time in 10 rounds, Song Lam Nghe An cut off their own leg when a player who committed a serious foul was given a red card, forcing the whole team to struggle. If Dinh Hoang committed a foul to prevent a goal in the match at Vinh Stadium against Ho Chi Minh City Club (later, SLNA won), then at Hang Day Stadium, Olaha went from hero to sinner when he was given a red card, forcing the home team to play with one less player and then suffer two consecutive, painful losses.

Obviously, Coach Nguyen Huy Hoang will have a lot of work to do to rectify the team if he does not want this unfortunate loss of players to happen.

Olaha from hero to sinner of SLNA at Hang Day stadium. Photo: Hai Hoang

If we look at the strength, home advantage, and possibly the advantage from the referee (in the case of being too harsh on Olaha as mentioned above), the fact that Song Lam Nghe An lost 1-2 to Hanoi FC is nothing to worry about. It is worth mentioning that both goals by Siladi-pen and Thanh Chung did not show the formidable strength of the home team Hanoi FC. Van Quyet did not score despite having many opportunities. Tuan Hai and Xuan Tu also had difficulty getting past the away team's defenders. Meanwhile, the goal conceded from a set piece by the home team was a warning about a defense with good physique and good bounce but not easily defeating foreign players like they have done for a long time.

sideLam River Nghe An, defense is still their specialty, their trademark, in 50 perfect minutes. Ngoc Hai commanded the defense to play tightly and reasonably to help Van Hoang neutralize all efforts of side kicks, central kicks, high balls and short low balls that are always changing from the home team's midfield. In difficult moments, Song Lam Nghe An still showed great fighting spirit and if lucky, both Van Duc and Xuan Manh can make things happen with their strong attacking weapons: central attacks, dangerous long shots and powerful headers.

Despite playing with one less player, Nghe An players showed great courage when playing away at Hang Day Stadium. Photo courtesy of Chung Nguyen

When all efforts of Song Lam Nghe An were fruitless, the disadvantage of playing with one less player always opened up space for Hanoi FC to attack and the goal to increase the score was inevitable. The team was playing well, but was stunned by two consecutive incidents: a red card for losing a player and letting the ball touch the hand in the penalty area, causing the momentum to suddenly disappear, instead, they had to defend and defend. The unrewarded effort to overcome could make the whole team feel heavier and more helpless as we all saw.

Despite losing the match, Song Lam Nghe An is showing that if everything is balanced as desired, the hero maintains his role from the beginning to the end of the match, and the young players maintain the necessary alertness, any opponent will have to sweat to be able to do something. Van Duc and Xuan Manh are proving that they are the leading pillars of the team. Xuan Tien also showed that he deserves to be given more opportunities. Foreign players Olaha and Oseni play with power and efficiency, and hopefully the recent incident was just an accident.

Now the trust is inCoach Nguyen Huy Hoangincreasingly bigger as Song Lam Nghe An steadily goes deeper and higher in this harsh tournament. The match in round 10 at Hang Day Stadium shows that and after each unsuccessful match, hopefully Song Lam Nghe An will quickly return in a more perfect direction. Hopefully they will stay away from matches with unnecessary loss of players./.