Song Lam Nghe An overcomes Dong Thap, wins ticket to National Cup Semi-finals

By defeating Dong Thap in the Quarterfinals of the 2024/25 National Cup,Lam River Nghe An, first time won the title under the "time" of Sponsor Tan Long.

Determined to win their first title, Song Lam Nghe An has organized many friendly matches before the match with Dong Thap. After those matches, coach Phan Nhu Thuat's team seems to have found the optimal lineup for the match with the team playing in the National First Division.

According to the tournament regulations, Song Lam Nghe An will not be allowed to use foreign players in this match. Therefore, Song Lam Nghe An's starting lineup has some changes compared to usual.

Specifically, the central defender duo is in charge of Hoang Van Khanh and Le Van Thanh; the two full-backs are Tran Dinh Hoang and Vuong Van Huy.

Meanwhile, the 4 midfielders officially on the field include: Ba Quyen, Khac Ngoc, Long Vu, Manh Quynh. The highest duo on the attack line will belong to Ngo Van Luong and Phan Xuan Dai.

Despite being determined to take an early lead, facing a visiting team that played close and was not afraid of collision, in the first 15 minutes of the match, Song Lam Nghe An encountered many difficulties in launching attacks.

It was not until the 19th minute that Song Lam Nghe An was able to organize a brilliant attack. From a coordination situation in the middle, Phan Xuan Dai passed the ball to Manh Quynh to escape to the back line. However, the cross from the midfielder wearing the number 11 shirt could not get past the Dong Thap defender.

In the following minutes, because both teams did not want to concede first, they played too cautiously, so not many opportunities were created.

Overall, during the first 45 minutes of the match, both teams played a deadlocked game, causing boredom for the audience in the Vinh stadium stands.

In the second half, to improve the attacking ability of the home team, coach Phan Nhu Thuat decided to put Xuan Tien on the field to replace Manh Quynh. However, Song Lam Nghe An still lacked ideas in the attacking phases. Therefore, for more than 10 minutes of the second half, the Nghe team still could not find a way to approach Dong Thap's goal.

Realizing the need for further changes, coach Phan Nhu Thuat decided to replace Ba Quyen and Dinh Hoang to bring Quang Vinh and Ho Van Cuong onto the field.

This adjustment brought a bit of improvement to the Nghe An team. After many attacks, in the 71st minute of the match, Song Lam Nghe An opened the score. The goal was scored by striker Phan Xuan Dai. Starting from a set piece situation, Khac Ngoc passed the ball accurately into the gap between the two opposing central defenders, giving the player wearing the number 21 shirt of Song Lam Nghe An the opportunity to escape and volley, leaving goalkeeper Thanh Tuan (Dong Thap) with no chance to block.

Continuing the excitement after the opening goal, Song Lam Nghe An continuously created opportunities in front of the away team's goal, but striker Ngo Van Luong was quite unlucky when facing goalkeeper Thanh Tuan.

However, the Nghe An audience did not have to wait too long for the second goal, because in the 79th minute, Xuan Tien doubled the gap for Song Lam Nghe An. From an attack on the left wing, the ball was flipped towards the second post for Long Vu, this midfielder headed the ball back to Xuan Tien. The midfielder wearing the number 9 shirt quickly volleyed the ball past goalkeeper Thanh Tuan.

In the 81st minute, Dong Thap scored a goal to reduce the gap to 1-2. From a pass from his teammate, Tran Nhat Lam ran down and scored a tricky shot into the near corner, defeating goalkeeper Van Viet.

And that was all Dong Thap could do when visiting Vinh Stadium. In the end, Song Lam Nghe An beat Dong Thap with a score of 2-1. This achievement helped coach Phan Nhu Thuat's team reach the Semi-finals of the 2024/25 National Cup.

In the Semi-final, Song Lam Nghe An will face Binh Duong at Vinh Stadium.