Final round of V.League: Goodbye to beloved coastal city
(Baonghean.vn) - The S.Khanh Hoa players spent their "entire youth" fighting for relegation this year, but in the end, coach Vo Dinh Tan and his team had to sadly say goodbye to V.League. They opened the season with a heavy 1-4 loss to the visiting team HAGL and the home team Pleiku sent them down to the First Division with the same score.
In the relegation battle, the Thanh team is holding the advantage thanks to a better head-to-head record than S.Khanh Hoa. Just need to win against the host Becamex Binh Duong, Thanh Hoa will keep the 13th position and a play-off spot without having to care about the result between HAGL and S.Khanh Hoa.
The match is worth 30 billion VND
This is the third consecutive year that Vietnam has had to invite foreign referees to officiate some matches in the final rounds of the V.League to limit errors and negativity in matches that are considered to decide the fate of the season. This is a match valued at 30 billion VND, the amount of money that a relegated team must spend at least to return to the V.League.
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| Goodbye S.Khanh Hoa. Photo: VPF |
Two Singaporean referees will officiate the two matches in this important final round. Referee Nathan Chan Rong De (born in 1991) will officiate the match between Becamex Binh Duong and Thanh Hoa, while referee Foo Chuan Hui (born in 1985) will officiate the match between Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Sanna Khanh Hoa BVN.
At first glance at the squad, it seems like the home team HAGL is at a disadvantage when they only use foreign player Kimbonjin as defender, while Xuan Truong, Van Son, and Duc Luong cannot play due to injury.
Meanwhile, S.Khanh Hoa, in addition to Toure and Zarour Chaher, also has naturalized player Nguyen Trung Dai Duong. At the last minute, coach Vo Dinh Tan chose Dinh Nhon (player born in 1991) instead of Van Phong (1984) to strengthen the youth.
The home team B.Binh Duong kept many key players out of the field, because a few days later they will play the first leg of the National Cup semi-final. As for the home team HAGL, after completing the goal of staying in the league, the team of coach Lee Tae-hoon played more freely, controlling the ball more. Right from the start of the match, it created many storms towards the goal of Khanh Hoa Club, signaling difficulties for coach Vo Dinh Tan and his team.
These two matches were connected online and it seemed like the audience would witness a fierce chase between S.Khanh Hoa and Thanh Hoa. But it was the psychological tension of the coastal players that harmed them, in the 27th minute they let Minh Vuong take the ball and rush into the 16.5m box to score the opening goal.
Just 2 minutes later, Zarour Chaher was too slow for Van Toan to use his speed to get past, and Dinh Khuong was confused and burned the ball away. This information flew to Go Dau stadium, making Thanh Hoa players more excited and Dinh Tung fumbled to let the ball hit his knee from Van Thang's delicious pass. That missed ball still helped Thanh Hoa score the opening goal, a precious goal for coach Mai Xuan Hop's team.
Entering the second half, coach Vo Dinh Tan and his team continued to play hard and scored a goal to reduce the score to 1-2 after Chaher's header in the 65th minute. But S.Khanh Hoa's hope only lasted 6 minutes, because Minh Vuong, in an excellent afternoon of play, scored a double from Van Toan's assist.
The coastal players' legs felt like they were made of lead and Van Toan was "repaid" by Minh Vuong with a precise assist to set the score at 4-1, sending the S.Khanh Hoa players down to the First Division.
Worry for the winner
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| Van Thang and his teammates will play the play-off against Pho Hien. Photo: VPF |
Obviously, it was the S.Khanh Hoa players who made the relegation race boring because of the heavy loss at Pleiku stadium. Meanwhile, the home team B.Binh Duong did not give up, diligently looking for an equalizer to enter the top 5. Wander's header in the 90+3 minute equalized 1-1, bringing the team from Thu to the 4th place of the season.
The home team B.Binh Duong took the field without Anh Duc, Tan Tai, To Van Vu, Dinh Hoang Max, and foreign player Pedro was on the bench, so Thanh Hoa players were somewhat encroached on the field. However, strikers Dinh Tung, Van Thang, and Rimario missed many opportunities to face goalkeeper Duc Cuong. Even just 7-8m from the empty goal, midfielder Van Thang still luckily kicked the ball into the sky, while Rimario only hit the post.
Thanh Hoa has temporarily escaped direct relegation, but looking at the performance of the home team's strikers, Thanh Hoa fans cannot help but worry when they have to face the First Division team Pho Hien a few days later. According to the rules, this is a match where foreign players are not allowed, so difficulties await Thanh Hoa.
