U19 Song Lam Nghe An won against U19 Hanoi in the National U19 semi-finals

The joy of the U19 Song Lam Nghe An players after winning the right to play in the 2023 National U19 final. Photo: Chung Le

It can be affirmed that the confrontation between U19 Song Lam Nghe An and U19 Hanoi in the semi-finals of the 2023 National U19 Championship is an early final. Because not only are these two teams holding the first and second place in terms of the number of championships won at the National U19 Championship, but also because on the journey to the semi-finals, they both showed a convincing playing style. The clearest proof in the quarter-final match, U19 Hanoi crushed U19 Dong Thap with a score of 3-1. Meanwhile, U19 Song Lam Nghe An also showed their superior class against U19 Binh Phuoc.

Therefore, the match between U19 Song Lam Nghe An and U19 Ha Noi attracted the attention of many spectators. The attractiveness of the two teams considered the strongest in the tournament was shown as soon as the ball rolled at Tay Ninh Stadium.

The two teams launched a very high-speed attack. U19 Hanoi chose the right flank as the main attacking wing. The capital team quickly created a dangerous situation with the ball coming from this wing. Hanoi midfielder Xuan Toan made a cross in front of Huu Hau's goal, but his teammate was unable to make an accurate contact to score.

The two teams continuously played tit for tat with high-frequency penetrations into the opponent's goal. U19 Song Lam Nghe An still deployed their familiar one-touch passing style at short distances. Although the U19 Hanoi players did not hesitate to tackle fiercely, coach Nguyen Van Vinh's students still brought a smooth coordination. And this helped U19 Song Lam Nghe An open the score early in the 12th minute of the match. The goal came after a series of ball rotations in the midfield area, before Van Quy made a beautiful long-range shot that defeated goalkeeper Quang Vinh.

After conceding the goal, U19 Hanoi proactively attacked to find an equalizer. Coach Duong Hong Son's team increased the tempo by moving the ball down the sideline and then passing it back to his teammates. However, Le Nguyen Hoang and his teammates played with full concentration to successfully neutralize the situation.

Despite having taken the lead, the Nghe An team had no intention of retreating deep into their home field to preserve the score. Coach Nguyen Van Vinh's players still actively controlled the game and came up with plans to penetrate the Hanoi penalty area.

In this match, U19 Song Lam Nghe An continuously took long-range shots, which is understandable as U19 Hanoi is a team with the ability to organize a tight defense. Therefore, the solution of coach Nguyen Van Vinh is quite reasonable. In the 22nd minute, Van Bac took a shot from a distance of nearly 30m but goalkeeper Quang Vinh played focused to neutralize it.

The mobility of Quang Vinh, Van Bac, Le Dinh Long Vu, Van Quy in the midfield of U19 Song Lam Nghe An made the midfield of the Capital team somewhat confused when implementing the ball deployment. The proof is that in the first 45 minutes, U19 Hanoi only had one shot on goal by Huu Hau. Meanwhile, U19 Song Lam Nghe An had 3 accurate finishing situations and one of them was materialized with the opening goal.

Van Quy's beautiful long-range shot opened the score for U19 Song Lam Nghe An. Photo: Chung Le

In the second half, captain Van Bac was injured and could not continue playing, so left-back Mai Hoang was pushed by coach Nguyen Van Vinh to play as an anchor midfielder. This brought many difficulties to the Nghe An team. Also in this half, U19 Song Lam Nghe An changed their tactics to defensive counter-attack. This helped U19 Hanoi have many opportunities to approach Huu Hau's goal.

After many attacks, in the 70th minute, U19 Hanoi created a clear opportunity to level the score, but Tri Phong's shot from a distance of more than 10m could not defeat Huu Hau. Before that, there was an unreasonable ball control by defender Van Son of U19 Song Lam Nghe An.

The tremendous pressure created by U19 Hanoi in the final minutes of the match caused Song Lam Nghe An's defense to make a mistake. Substitute Long Nhat accelerated at high speed on the right wing, bringing a penalty to U19 Hanoi. In the penalty shootout, Quang Duyet did not give Huu Hau a chance to block.

The score was tied 1-1 after 90 minutes, bringing the two teams into a penalty shootout to determine the winner. On the 11m mark, the accuracy of the Nghe An players helped coach Nguyen Van Vinh's team win the right to play in the final match./.