HCMC 0 - 2 SLNA: Joy in anxiety

Admittedly, the 3 points that SLNA won against TP.HCM were completely deserved. During the 90 minutes at Thong Nhat Stadium, Coach Nguyen Duc Thang's students played better than their colleagues on the other side of the battle line.

This victory is the result of the reasonable tactics of the coaching staff, the determination of the players and especially the strong support of Nghe An fans in the stands of Thong Nhat Stadium.

However, in the joy of victory, SLNA fans still could not avoid feeling anxious when witnessing their team's performance against TP.HCM. What made them feel most uneasy was the defensive ability of Ngoc Hai and his teammates.

Many times the Nghe An team's defense played without concentration and confidence, giving the Ho Chi Minh City strikers good opportunities to threaten goalkeeper Vu Hai's goal.

SLNA players share joy with home fans at Thong Nhat Stadium. Photo: Internet

The two most serious mistakes of SLNA's defense occurred in the 68th and 72nd minutes. The first situation was a wrong clearance by center back Ngoc Hai, allowing Hai Anh to escape and face the away team's goalkeeper. Fortunately, the home team's striker's gentle shot in an unmarked position was caught by goalkeeper Vu Hai.

4 minutes later, it was goalkeeper Vu Hai's turn to make another mistake. His rush to catch the ball in the air was inaccurate, the ball bounced from goalkeeper Vu Hai's hands right in front of Huynh Van Thanh who was waiting. Luckily for the Nghe An team, the home team's shot was so powerful that it missed the goal by a hair's breadth.

These are just two of the many dangerous situations that Ho Chi Minh City had in front of the away team's goal. If only one of the two situations mentioned above were successfully exploited by the home team's strikers, coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team would find it difficult to leave Thong Nhat Stadium with 3 points in hand. That shows that SLNA's defense has not yet demonstrated the necessary alertness, precision and cohesion.

Despite scoring a goal, Ngoc Hai also caused SLNA to almost concede a goal due to a mistake. Photo: Internet

Don't forget, going into this match, coach Miura could not field foreign player Gustavo due to injury. Besides, sharp striker Phi Son could not play until the end of the first half for the same reason.

If both Gustavo and “Vietnam Ronaldo” were on the field, Ho Chi Minh City’s attack would be much more dangerous. Goalkeeper Vu Hai’s goal would hardly be kept intact.

SLNA's upcoming opponents, XSKT Can Tho and B.Binh Duong, both have highly rated attacking lines led by foreign players.

The Tay Do team has the striker duo Patiyo - Luiz, while the Thu team has the killer duo Anh Duc - Romario. Compared to the attack of Ho Chi Minh City on April 5, the attack of XSKT Can Tho and B.Binh Duong is clearly more dangerous.

Therefore, along with the joy from the victory over Ho Chi Minh City, there are many worries of Nghe An fans about the journey ahead of coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team.

The SLNA coaching staff and players did not quickly find a solution to help the defense play more solidly, the price to pay is not small./.