Summary of the first leg of V.League 2015: B.BD firmly at number 1, HAGL at the bottom of the rankings

After 13 matches of V.League 2015, defending champion B. Binh Duong is firmly in the top position while Hoang Anh Gia Lai fans are extremely worried about the team's fate this season.

With a deep squad and the support from the stands of a large number of fans, Becamex Binh Duong is always considered the number 1 candidate for the 2015 V.League championship. From the first rounds, the team from the land of Thu has continuously won impressive victories against Dong Thap, Quang Nam and then Da Nang, Song Lam Nghe An.

However, it is difficult to say that Binh Duong is an unbeatable team because in reality, they have tasted bitterness 3 times and been held to a draw once this season. However, up to this point, the reigning V.League champions are still in the top position with 28 points and creating a 3-point gap with the team behind, FLC Thanh Hoa.

Foreign players like Abass or Moses are the mainstay of Binh Duong in the first leg victories (Photo: Football Newspaper)

The reason why it is difficult for any team to catch up with Binh Duong is because the competitors themselves are not strong enough to maintain their form for a long time. Although Than Quang Ninh played well away from home, they were unlucky at home with only 8/18 maximum points. Meanwhile, Hai Phong Club - the team that once rose to the top - has now dropped to 4th place, 6 points behind the leader.

The team closest to Binh Duong at the moment - FLC Thanh Hoa is a strong candidate to overthrow the defending champions who have just ended a 3-match winless streak in the last round. Other "dark horses" such as Dong Thap, SLNA or Sanna Khanh Hoa do not have enough depth to compete in the long run. Meanwhile, last season's runner-up Ha Noi T&T has been sliding down the rankings since the beginning of the season and it is unknown when it will return to the top.

The current runner-up Hanoi T&T is trying to win every point to regain its position (Photo: VPF)

Therefore, finding a strong opponent for Binh Duong in the rest of the season is extremely difficult when the teams ranked below, although full of ambition, still lack the spirit of a champion. As for the home team of Go Dau, they have more than enough spirit even at the time of having to change the coach in the middle of the season after the departure of Technical Director Le Thuy Hai. "Old man" Mai Duc Chung was chosen as the next captain and he is still steering Binh Duong in the right direction with the achievement of reaching the semi-finals of the National Cup and the championship in the first leg recently.

HAGL: From a beautiful dream to a candidate for relegation

The 2015 V.League season received unprecedented attention from Vietnamese football lovers and this attraction mainly came from the rising stars of Hoang Anh Gia Lai when each match of this team attracted tens of thousands of spectators to the stadium no matter where they were.

Before the season took place, Mr. Duc himself only set the goal of testing the fire in the first tournament of the generation of Cong Phuong and Tuan Anh, but all experts and fans expected beautiful performances like what they were fascinated by in the U19 Vietnam team.

However, the same players under the guidance of familiar coach Guillaume Graechen could not repeat the previous successes in youth tournaments. The only one who showed some of his ability in the professional arena was the number 1 hope Cong Phuong.

The striker wearing the number 44 shirt of HAGL has scored 5 goals and contributed many highly innovative passes. However, his partners in the attack line such as Van Toan, Drasvko and now Moussa have not yet maximized their scoring ability.

Cong Phuong needs more efficiency from his partners on HAGL's attack line in the second leg (Photo: VPF)

Besides, one of the main reasons why HAGL has been stuck in 12th place for many rounds after a series of 8 winless matches is the weakness of the defense. Dong Trieu's long-term injury combined with the absence of strong foreign players in the defense has made the team from the Mountain City become the team with the second worst defense in V.League 2015 with 28 goals conceded. Before the second phase, Mr. Duc immediately added center backs Tien Dung and Franklin to improve the steel quality, creating the premise for the attack to promote the beautiful playing style as expected by fans.

However, the recent 1-4 loss to Becamex Binh Duong has exposed many weaknesses not only in the defense but also in HAGL's attacking style, and coach Graechen will still have a lot of work to do to help the former U19 players take off in the second leg and beyond.

V.League 2015 first leg standings

According to VTV