SLNA's necessary defeat

(Baonghean.vn)- Fans of SLNA football team believe that the 2-3 loss to Hai Phong at Vinh stadium was necessary to bring the players back down to earth after a series of successful matches.

The unexpected fall

Before this match took place, experts and fans highly appreciated the ability of the home team SLNA to win. In addition to the advantage of playing at Vinh Stadium, the form and strength of Phi Son and his teammates were also much better than the team from the Port City. On both fronts (V.League, National Cup), SLNA had gone through 6 matches with only wins and draws (4 wins, 2 draws). The personnel that coach Nguyen Duc Thang currently has in hand is also full of the most outstanding faces.

Meanwhile, when traveling to Vinh Stadium, Hai Phong did not have stability in form and squad strength. Statistics show that the Hai Phong team has a record of 3 losses, 1 draw and 2 wins in the last 6 matches in V.League. The force is seriously damaged by the long-term injury of No. 1 goalkeeper Dang Van Lam. In addition, coach Truong Viet Hoang cannot use central defender Le Van Phu (mild pain) and right-back Anh Hung (busy preparing for a wedding) for the battle with SLNA. In addition, Hai Phong's ambition for this year's season is not really high.

SLNA (in yellow) had a lack of concentration against Hai Phong right at Vinh Stadium. Photo: Thanh Cuong

However, in such a difficult situation, Dinh Bao and his teammates defeated SLNA right at the "fire pot of Vinh city". Hai Phong's 3-2 victory over the home team SLNA made many people feel extremely surprised. During the 90 minutes at Vinh stadium, the Nghe An team dominated their opponents, with a series of delicious opportunities created. The 2 goals scored by Olaha and Ngoc Hai were just a few of the dangerous situations that the yellow team made towards the goal of goalkeeper Vu Hai (Hai Phong).

At the end of the match, SLNA and the fans of this team blamed the referee team for their weakness, when there were decisions that were disadvantageous to the home team (typically the handball of a Hai Phong player in the penalty area in the 65th minute)... But objectively speaking, coach Truong Viet Hoang and his team deserved to win, with their efforts and ability to take advantage of opportunities. SLNA should only blame themselves. They should have done better to win all 3 points against Hai Phong, instead of receiving empty-handed results.

"First blame yourself, then blame others"

In the last match, coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team lost to themselves. Nguyen Manh made the main mistake that led to Ngoc Tan's opening goal. At a fairly long distance (about 25m), without much obstruction of vision, Nguyen Manh dived inaccurately, causing the ball to fly into the net. With his class and current form, the goalkeeper born in 1991 could not have lost such a simple situation. Along with Nguyen Manh, the central midfielder pair Ngoc Toan - Khac Ngoc also intervened quite slowly, allowing Ngoc Tan to comfortably adjust the ball and then shoot in an open position.

The excellence of goalkeeper Phan Dinh Vu Hai prevented SLNA from scoring goals in a stalemate. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Stevens' equalizer 2-2 came from a positioning error by center back Van Khanh and left back Manh Hung. The situation happened in the 57th minute, with only two red shirts, Fagan and Stevens, surrounded by 5 SLNA players, but Nguyen Manh still had to pick the ball out of the net from Stevens' beautiful shot. If Van Khanh and Manh Hung had played more focused and alert, the pass from a Hai Phong player would have been a harmless situation. Unfortunately, that mistake cost SLNA a goal.

The defense was terrible, the offense was not much better. Apart from Phi Son - Olaha who still showed excellence, the remaining satellites only brought disappointment. Foreign player Kovacevic was the one who had to take the biggest responsibility when he appeared harmless in front of the opponent's goal. Poor tactical thinking, unintelligent running, bad positioning and "weak" finishing. That's what Kovacevic did in the match against Hai Phong. Van Duc, Khac Ngoc... also played below their ability, only Phi Son and Olaha were not enough to handle it. Therefore, the offense was partly at fault in SLNA's recent loss.

Actually, this defeat is not too serious for coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team. After all, the Nghe An team does not have much hope of winning a position in the TOP 5. Even for those who think deeply, the 2-3 loss to Hai Phong is necessary. SLNA needs to return to the ground after a period of sublime performance.

The top priority of Phi Son and his teammates at this time is to prepare mentally, physically and in form for the two final matches of the National Cup with B.Binh Duong. Losing now is better than losing at the end of the season./.

Thanh Hung