Round 14 V-League 2018: Order restored

If Nam Dinh is a rookie, not "strong because of rice, bold because of money" and is soon identified as a candidate for relegation, then XSKT.Can Tho, Saigon, and Ho Chi Minh City Club are all teams with many changes in players and coaches.

Even when coach Miura announced the top 3 target, many people shook their heads and the fact that they only lost and drew after winning at Nam Dinh in round 5 showed that it would be difficult for the Japanese coach to survive.

XSKT.Can Tho is facing difficulties after Huu Dung's return home. The midfield of the Tay Do team lacks a conductor who can play with all his might and control the match.

Saigon and SLNA's mark

Saigon just had a match that “saved itself and saved the V-League” when it defeated the visiting team Hanoi 5-2, in which foreign player Da Sylva scored the first poker of the season. It was not until the round of 16, against SLNA at Vinh Stadium, that coach Tai Em knew for sure whether he had escaped the spiral or not.

Fagan and Stevens made important contributions to bringing Hai Phong to 3rd place in V-League 2018. Photo: Internet

But Tai Em “saved the game” by breaking the winning streak of Hanoi FC, making V-League more worth watching. In the last 14 matches, the teams participating in the tournament have only scored 7 goals against the Capital team, but Tai Em’s students have done it 6 times. Saigon is the only team to take 4 points from the home team Hang Day after 2 matches.

Meanwhile, SLNA being stuck in the bottom 3 positions since the beginning of the season is a big surprise, because their squad is full of famous players. Whether the 2-1 victory over B.Binh Duong at Vinh Stadium (chosen as B.Binh Duong’s home stadium) is a turning point or not, Nghe An fans will have to wait for the 2 matches against SXKT.Can Tho and Sai Gon.

Taking advantage of their home field, coach Duc Thang and his team must take all 6 points to be able to "sleep soundly". Midfielder Van Binh has returned home, reducing the defensive duties of Khac Ngoc and Olaha. If there are more good foreign players, perhaps SLNA's escape is only a matter of time.

FLC Thanh Hoa returns

After only 4 points in the first 4 rounds, Hai Phong has now climbed to 3rd place with 22 points. The presence of Technical Director Ngo Quang Truong has made the players of Hai Phong play better, less monotonous playing style of feeding long balls to Fagan and Stevens.

The fact that Than Quang Ninh and Hai Phong are at the top of the rankings does not surprise anyone because they have done that for several seasons now.

Mr. Khoi appeared, contributing to stabilizing the team, bringing Saigon to 12th place. Photo: AT

Meanwhile, FLC Thanh Hoa showed that the turmoil behind the scenes, if resolved, would motivate the players to play. Surprisingly, naturalized center back Bakel was notified of his contract termination but ended up still playing in the last few rounds.

The departed Quoc Phuong took off his shoes and shone in Saigon's shirt in the match against Hanoi FC, even scoring the important equalizer 1-1 for Saigon to win 5-2 later.

Midfielder Van Binh returned to Vinh Stadium to play for SLNA and had a 15-minute "debut" which was considered a good performance. The main thing is losing the "hero" but FLC Thanh Hoa had 2 consecutive victories to get back on track because the gap with the top 3 teams is only 3 points.

Meanwhile, the teams S.Khanh Hoa, B.Binh Duong, Quang Nam and HAGL are considered easy to play because of their comfortable mentality. If S.Khanh Hoa has long been the "dark horse" of the seasons, B.Binh Duong has had initial success with the strategy of using players trained by themselves.

The reigning champions Quang Nam are 15 points behind the leaders, so it is only a matter of time before they run out of chances to defend their title. HAGL has shown that if they want to improve their performance, they need to strengthen their defense. Their academy's failure to focus on training defenders has cost them dearly. HAGL's goals are beautiful, and their losses are equally beautiful.