Vo Ngoc Toan and his mark on SLNA's midfield

After 13 matches, SLNA is not only the team with the most draws (6 matches) but also the team with the fewest losses (2 matches), the best defense (9 goals conceded), and the most clean sheets (9 matches). Besides the 4 players who played the most, Damir Memovic, Hoang Van Khanh, Tran Dinh Hoang, Michael Olaha (1,170 minutes), Vo Ngoc Toan and Ho Khac Ngoc are also the two players who played all 13 matches.

In which, midfielder Ho Khac Ngoc was substituted 8 times and midfielder Vo Ngoc Toan was a starter in 6 matches and came on from the bench 7 times. Midfielder Hoang Van Binh had 11 appearances, was substituted 3 times and came on as a substitute 2 times.

Among the 3 central midfielders of SLNA, Ho Khac Ngoc is the player who contributed 2 goals for the Nghe team, Vo Ngoc Toan contributed 1 goal but the mark of this midfielder whose task is to "destroy" the opponent's play is very large in the whole team's play.

Vo Ngoc Toan celebrates scoring against Ho Chi Minh City Club. Photo: VPF

In the match against HAGL, coach Duc Thang surprisingly left Khac Ngoc on the bench and put on the field the central midfielder pair Van Binh - Ngoc Toan. It was the use of two good blocking midfielders that helped SLNA's midfield neutralize all the creative midfielders of HAGL.

Vo Ngoc Toan is a very special face of SLNA in recent seasons. In 2015, in his first time in the first team, the player born in 1994 had 10 matches, in V.League 2016, Ngoc Toan only missed 3 matches throughout the season and in 2017, it was 14 matches.

In V.League 2018, when Hoang Van Binh was called back by SLNA from the second leg, Ngoc Toan's role was quite obscure, but this year, this player played all 13 matches and contributed 1 assist and 1 goal for the Nghe team.

It is worth mentioning that, although he played all 13 matches of the first leg, in the past 5 seasons, this is the year that Ngoc Toan showed his perfection in playing style. As a defensive midfielder, playing football based on a foundation of good physical strength, it is quite surprising that Ngoc Toan has not received a single penalty card in V.League 2019.

Vo Ngoc Toan in the match against HAGL. Photo: FBNV

After SLNA's convincing 2-0 victory over HAGL, Coach Nguyen Duc Thang was also surprised with his student. That was the match where Ngoc Toan played extremely well and blocked the strengths of creative midfielder Tuan Anh on the opponent's side.

“I was very surprised by Ngoc Toan’s impressive performance in this match. A midfielder who plays strong football, has the ability to stick to the opponent and is very good at breaking up the play like Toan will be very necessary when facing a strong team like HAGL. Everyone knows that HAGL’s midfielders are very creative, if they just lock down the explosive players in the midfield, it will be difficult for their attack to show their inherent strength,” commented coach Duc Thang.

Before V.League 2019 when SLNA failed to bring Hoang Thinh back to his hometown team, Hoang Van Binh, 31 years old, was on the other side of his career, Nghe An fans were somewhat worried about the supporting position next to Khac Ngoc.

And Vo Ngoc Toan, throughout the 13 matches in the first leg, has proven that he is truly a rough diamond that is gradually shining, an important link in connecting the defense and attack lines of the Nghe An team./.

Before the match SLNA – HAGL: Vo Ngoc Toan is confident of defeating Tuan Anh

(Baonghean.vn) - After a 2-week break, V.League 2019 will return with exciting matches in round 13. One of them is the match between SLNA and HAGL, taking place at Vinh Stadium at 5:00 p.m. on June 16.