Coach Huy Hoang: 'SLNA paid the price for a mistake in the defense'
In the 36th minute, when the score was 0-0, Pham Xuan Manh blocked the pass to Hendrio Araujo, but handled it slowly and kicked Nguyen Phong Hong Duy. The ball then headed to Thai Ba Sang's position. The away team's center-back incorrectly headed home, letting Nnamani Samuel steal it, knocking over goalkeeper Nguyen Van Hoang for Hong Duy to cushion in an empty net.
SLNA then pushed up the offensive formation to find an equalizer but failed. The 1-0 result was maintained, causing SLNA to suffer its first defeat in the V-League 2023 after 5 years of a full draw. Coach Nguyen Huy Hoang's army fell to 11th with only three points more than the bottom team Da Nang, while kicking more than one match.
"I encourage the players a lot because I know this match is difficult. The brothers tried their best for 90 minutes. We had many opportunities but could not take advantage. If the defense appeared wrong, we had to pay the price. ", coach Nguyen Huy Hoang said after the defeat at Thien Truong Stadium.
SLNA controlled the ball 51%, launched 14 shots, but most of them went outside the goal. They only had two dangerous situations, but both were blocked by the old goalkeeper Tran Nguyen Manh. In the 32nd minute, Dinh Xuan Tien eliminated two Nam Dinh players, but the shot from outside the penalty area was thrown by goalkeeper Nguyen Manh, touching his fingertips. In the 71st minute, the 1.97 m tall player Jordy Kandolo hit his head from near the wall, but Nam Dinh's goalkeeper once again punched the ball up. After the match, coach Nguyen Huy Hoang said: "Nguyen Manh every match is good".
SLNA is one of the teams with the largest number of fans in Vietnam. In previous seasons, hundreds of Nghe fans followed the home team to Thien Truong, but this year only 11 people came to the field. Coach Nguyen Huy Hoang said: "Five rounds ago, we didn't play well, the audience didn't accept that. SLNA needed wins to pull back the fans."
He also said that the team's problem is "the striker is not good at finishing" and it is the job of the coaching staff to improve this stage.
SLNA will play their next match on April 15 against HAGL, the team is unbeaten with five draws and one win.
