Top 4 first leg of V.League 2019 and the best of SLNA

Before the season, the Nghe An team said goodbye to a series of key players born in 1993 such as Que Ngoc Hai, Pham Manh Hung or Ngo Xuan Toan. Despite missing the appointment to bring Ngo Hoang Thinh and Nguyen Trong Hoang back to their hometown team, SLNA welcomed the return of Nguyen Manh, Xuan Manh and new central defender Damir Memovic.

Impressive start

Coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team had an impressive start with 4 wins and 1 draw, reaching the top of the rankings. By the end of the first leg, SLNA had 5 wins, 6 draws and only 2 losses, the number of points that the Nghe team had was 21, equal to the third-placed team Than Quang Ninh and less than Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi Clubs.

Tran Nguyen Manh is the best goalkeeper in the first leg of V.League 2019. Photo: VPF

SLNA’s 6-match unbeaten streak was only halted at Hang Day and after the loss to Hanoi, 4 matches ended in goalless draws. It is worth mentioning that at this point in the 2018 season, SLNA is sinking deep in the rankings, standing at 12th place with only 2 wins, 5 draws and 6 losses, earning only 11 points.

Best defense

After 13 matches, the defense is the mainstay of SLNA. With the return of veteran Tran Dinh Dong and the solidity of goalkeeper Nguyen Manh, SLNA has only conceded 9 goals, a rate of 0.7 goals/match. The team with the second best defense in V.League is Ho Chi Minh City Club (10 goals conceded) and Hanoi Club (12 goals conceded).

SLNA's defense is highly rated. Photo: Duc Anh

In this achievement, goalkeeper Nguyen Manh became the best goalkeeper in the first leg with 9 clean sheets and 24 saves. Center back Hoang Van Khanh became the center back with the most tackles in V.League (6/7 successful tackles). Thus, in 13 matches in the first leg, SLNA only conceded goals in matches against Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon and B. Binh Duong.

Low note of the attack

While the defense became a source of peace of mind for Nghe An fans, SLNA's attack became a disappointment. Foreign player Alves Santos was almost harmless, sitting out the entire first leg of V.League, Phan Van Duc was injured and only played in one match, Michael Olaha was lost in the attack, SLNA only scored 13 goals.

Attack is not SLNA's strong point. Photo: Duc Anh

This achievement of the Nghe An team is only better than the rookie Viettel who has 12 goals. Only 6 SLNA players scored in the first leg: Cao Xuan Thang, Vo Ngoc Toan (1), Ho Khac Ngoc (2), Nguyen Quang Tinh (2), Ho Tuan Tai (2) and Michael Olaha (4).

Players with the most appearances

In the above achievements, the central defender duo Van Khanh and Damir Memovic made a great contribution. This central defender duo, along with Tran Dinh Hoang, Vo Ngoc Toan, Ho Khac Ngoc and Michael Olaha, were the players who played the most, 13/13 matches. Foreign player Olaha was also SLNA's top scorer with 34 shots.

Center back Memovic is the player with the most successful interceptions in SLNA, and the 4th most in V.League. Photo: VPF

Center back Damir Memovic with a height of 1m95 is also a bright spot in SLNA's defense system with 22 successful interceptions, ranking 4th among the best center backs in V.League after the first leg. The leader of this achievement belongs to Zarour Chaher of S. Khanh Hoa BVN, Van Khanh also has 14 successful interceptions.

The problem for the return leg

With Phan Van Duc suffering a torn ligament injury and having to sit out until the end of V.League 2019, SLNA is forced to rely on the efforts of young striker Ho Tuan Tai. SLNA's defense will certainly be the team's mainstay in the second leg and to solve the problem of attacking and scoring, the Nghe An team's coaching staff needs to quickly find a quality foreign player to maximize Michael Olaha's ability.

According to the average home attendance statistics of the Organizing Committee, SLNA ranked 5th with 8,667 people coming to the stadium per match. This number is considered modest compared to the enthusiasm of SLNA fans at the home stadium which is known as "Thanh Vinh Fire Pan".

V.League 2019 standings after the first leg. Photo: VTC

Crushing HAGL, SLNA 'maintains' Top 4 in first leg of V.League

(Baonghean.vn) - In round 13 of V.League, SLNA welcomed HAGL after going through the second half of the first leg without knowing victory and the brilliance of Tuan Tai, Quang Tinh, Olaha helped the home team end the series of lackluster matches.