Coach Le Huynh Duc criticized the player for lack of confidence and impatience
"My player tried, but lost because of personal mistakes. We conceded early, so the player was impatient to find a way to remove it. We equalized very quickly and thought it was fine, but just after removing it, we made a mistake and lost again. Maybe because the team lost a lot at this year's tournament, they felt nervous, not confident," Mr. Duc said after the loss at Go Dau Stadium on July 23.
Binh Duong entered this match well, attacking and forcing HAGL to choke in the first 10 minutes. But when they were in a dominant position, Mr. Le Huynh Duc's army conceded a goal because of Tran Minh Vuong's beautiful long shot in the 12th minute. Binh Duong equalized just three minutes later when Tong Anh Ty turned the ball flexible, eliminated Le Van Son and finished perfectly in a tight corner. But in the 31st minute, the home team was forced to chase the score again when the defense left too much space for Dinh Thanh Binh to escape to receive Chau Ngoc Quang's outer cheek flick, stretching Paollo to cushion the ball into an empty net.
In addition to personal errors, finishing is a big limitation that Binh Duong has not been able to overcome. Before HAGL, Binh Duong held the ball 65%, finished 17 shots. They had many good opportunities to score more goals, but the spearheads were all missed. Nguyen Tien Linh had three chances, but one shot hit the keeper, once hit the bar with a header and hit the crossbar once. Last season's top scorer Rimario was also disappointing when he faced the opponent's goalkeeper twice but did not have a goal.
"We had many opportunities, but the strikers could not solve them. Many situations I see are Rimario's forte, last season was to score but now the shot failed. So does Tien Linh. Maybe they need to calm down to save scoring opportunities," added coach Huynh Duc.
Failing to receive HAGL, Binh Duong fell to the bottom of the table with only eight points. They are the only team that has not won a match after 15 rounds in the V-League 2023. Huynh Duc's teachers and students are both three points behind the two upper teams - Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City - while the relegation race is only three rounds.
"We now have nothing to lose. The team has no way back. The players have to calm down to find a way forward," Mr. Huynh Duc said about the team's situation.
HAGL and SLNA, with 20 and 19 points, were relegated. Khanh Hoa, with 16 points, also only needs one more point to stay in the V-League. The race to escape relegation is now the story of Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Binh Duong. In which, Huynh Duc's army lost when two opponents were three points behind. Binh Duong has three matches left, being a guest of SLNA on July 29 and welcoming Khanh Hoa on August 2 and closing the season with a confrontation with Ho Chi Minh City at Thong Nhat Stadium nine days later.
