The ‘upper handicap’ struggled

On April 23, the 2021 Bamboo Airways National Cup kicked off with the first round matches. Being rated higher, but the V-League representatives have difficulty in front of opponents from the First Division.

HAGL has to rely on a last-minute penalty to overcome An Giang in the National Cup photo: Huu Pham HAGL “howling” On the Pleiku field, forecasts were all about an easy victory for HAGL in the match against An Giang. Coach Kiatisuk Senamuang’s team is leading the LS V-League 2021 with 25 points after 10 matches. They have a series of 9 unbeaten matches, including up to 6 consecutive victories. In contrast, An Giang is at the bottom of the First Division table. In front of an underrated opponent, coach Kiatisuk Senamuang took off the main team of HAGL except for the position of midfielder Huu Tuan. In addition to the 3 foreign soldiers such as Brandao, Kim Dong Su and Memovic that are not used according to the National Cup regulations, the players with the highest performance of HAGL such as Cong Phuong, Van Toan, Luong Xuan Truong … all attended. be. With home advantage, HAGL soon overwhelmed An Giang right from the start. However, the HAGL attack line proved to be quite deadlocked before the large defensive play of An Giang. In the first half, HAGL only created a really dangerous situation in the 16th minute when Bao Toan finished the ball and hit the visitors’ post after the assist of Chau Ngoc Quang. The rest of the time, the HAGL strikers, despite the efforts, could not reach the visitors’ goal. At the beginning of the second half, coach Kiatisuk launched Tuan Anh on the pitch to replace Dong Trieu to increase creativity for the midfield. HAGL’s ball lanes were sharper, but the real opportunity still didn’t come. Suddenly happened in the 72nd minute when Van Hop finished tossing the roof of the home team’s net. Before that, An Giang had a quick counterattack on the right wing before the ball was thrown inside. The early defeat made coach Kiatisuk and BHL home team startled. Six minutes later, coach Kiatisuk sent four players Van Toan, Minh Vuong, Nguyen Trung Dai Duong and Van Thanh into the field to increase their attack power. HAGL pushes up the squad to put pressure on the opponent. In the 85th minute, Van Toan was fouled in the penalty area and brought a penalty of 11 meters to HAGL. On the penalty spot, Van Thanh defeated goalkeeper Thanh Nha, bringing a 1-1 equalizer for HAGL. HAGL’s 2-1 victory was set in the 90 + 1 minute with a goal from Nguyen Trung Dai Duong. The struggling victory against An Giang will probably help coach Kiatisuk to have more “data” to prepare for the HAGL in the front stage. Enemy forces, exhaustion Also in the afternoon, the first round of the National Cup had 4 other matches, including: Pho Hien-Song Lam Nghe An, SHB Da Nang-Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Hong Linh Ha Tinh-CAND and Can Tho-Becamex Binh Duong. Due to having to put effort into the V-League front, which is fierce, the V-League representatives all keep the pillars on the bench. In addition, since the First Division teams do not use foreign soldiers, the V-League teams must also let foreign soldiers outside. This has significantly reduced the strength of the V-League teams. At Hoa Xuan Stadium, SHB Da Nang only won 1-0 against Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Song Lam Nghe An even disappointed when he lost 0-1 to Pho Hien. Similarly, Becamex Binh Duong was held 1-1 by Can Tho, and then lost 2-4 in the penalty shootout. Hong Linh Ha Tinh is the only representative of the V-League to win convincingly, with a score of 4-2 against CAND. The central team, after breaking up with coach Pham Minh Duc, is playing excitedly under the guidance of coach Nguyen Thanh Cong. Today, the first round of the National Cup will continue with 4 other matches between Dak Lak-Dong A Thanh Hoa, Binh Dinh-Long An, Quang Nam-Saigon and Hai Phong-Binh Phuoc. The opening ceremony will take place at Quy Nhon Stadium in the match between host Binh Dinh and Long An. According to the announcement from the Organizer, this match will hold a lucky draw for fans with a reward of 1 Bamboo Airways domestic ticket worth 5 million VND. The best player in the match will receive 2 domestic flight tickets with 1 Bamboo Airways First Class card worth VND 85 million. Sponsorship news