Coach Vu Tien Thanh is no longer 'bored' of the Ho Chi Minh City club's defense
After the home team lost to the Hanoi Police 3-5 in round 8 at Thong Nhat Stadium, coach Vu Tien Thanh said he was "very bored" of the Ho Chi Minh City defense, "didn't think they played so bad".
On Ha Tinh Stadium in round 9 on the evening of May 27, Ho Chi Minh City received four more goals. But at the post-match press conference, Mr. Thanh not only did not blame but also praised the students. "Overall, the defense played well. The quality of the defense improved a lot. We were only unlucky because defender Jonny Campbell received a red card, and the home team got a penalty," the coach said at the press conference. after the game.
As a guest on Ha Tinh stadium, Ho Chi Minh City suddenly flourished and opened the score early thanks to Victor Mansaray. Although home captain Dinh Thanh Trung equalized 1-1 in the 30th minute, Ho Chi Minh City continued to take a 2-1 lead from Hoang Vu Samson's goal in the third minute of the first half. At the beginning of the second half, Mansaray completed a double, helping Ho Chi Minh City raise the gap to 3-1.
However, Ha Tinh then came upstream spectacularly. From the 63rd to 74th minutes, Pinto and Thanh Trung respectively scored with close-range kicks, equalizing 3-3. The drama of the match came in the last minute of injury time of the second half, after a good arrangement on the right wing, midfielder Van Long hit the mudstone to set the score 4-3 for Ha Tinh.
"Losing with a 3-1 lead is really hard to accept. At first we thought we would leave a point. The team was unlucky to lose people because Jonny Campbell received a red card, towards the end of the game the players were down in fitness. so it's very difficult to kick in the last 20 minutes," Thanh said.
Despite losing in reverse and the team at the bottom of the table, the head coach of the HCM City Club is still optimistic, saying that the gap with the teams right above the group holding the red light is not large. As long as the team plays well in the next rounds, the team can still change the situation.
"I think it's difficult for Ho Chi Minh City to break into the top 8, the most realistic goal right now is to race for relegation. I don't worry about it. We are building a very united team, with good spirits, scoring goals also. stability, the problem now is that we need to solve the defense to be okay a bit more," added Mr. Vu Tien Thanh.
On the Ha Tinh side, coach Nguyen Thanh Cong revealed that he realized that the opponent was weak in defense on both sides, so he directed his students to try to attack the border to find opportunities, and finally achieved unexpected results.
"This victory came from the attitude, determination, desire of the players. When they were 3-1 down, the players lost confidence, but then they regained their spirits very quickly, and won. The team. will be determined to win points in the last matches of the first leg, concretizing the goal of entering the top 8 to stay in the relegation soon," said Cong.
With three points obtained, Ha Tinh rose to sixth place with 13 points. And Ho Chi Minh City is still at the bottom of the table with 4 points. In the 10th round, Ha Tinh will be a guest on Nam Dinh's field, while Ho Chi Minh City will return home to Da Nang.
