The presence of the two coaches in the ‘derby Ninh Binh’

After a classic brace in previous match, the ancient capital fans were waiting for Quyen to recur at the top level in the clash between Xuan Thanh Saigon and Ninh Binh, yet his performance was so disappointing.

Boss Truong at the stadium. Photo: Mai Huong.

Boss Thuy before the match. Photo: Quang Nghia.

Quang Hung and Tai Em competing for the ball. Photo: Quang Nghia

Long Giang and Danh Ngoc competing for the ball. Photo: Quang Nghia.

Anh Tuan fired a shot to score the opener. Photo: Quang Nghia

This was the second chance in this season when the derby between the two bosses of the ancient capital Hoang Manh Truong and Nguyen Duc Thuy took place in Ninh Binh. It was Boss Thuy’s decision to move the match from Thong Nhat field to the hometown that made Xuan Thanh Saigon somewhat disadvantaged after moving a long way to play this match. Meanwhile, Ninh Binh team which was supposed to be away team turned to play in front of the enthusiastic cheering of home fans and accounted for a big advantage.

In this match, Coach Nguyen Van Sy continued to let Van Quyen in the game to coordinate with the duo Moussa Sanogo – Phan Anh Tuan in attack. Quyen played in the back to have more spaces to promote the passes and his own qualities but failed to shine with a thorough care of Xuan Thanh Saigon players. Quyen also had chances to score such as the free kick in his favorite position but couldn’t take advantage of it.

Although Quyen couldn’t recur his excellent performance, Ninh Binh played pretty well in this game thanks to the aggressive midfielder Tran Manh Dung who was making high performance. It was Manh Dung’s technical game play that caused a lot of problems for the opponent’s defense. Also, striker Phan Anh Tuan played pretty well in this match and advanced himself to score the opener after 25 minutes after the combination with Moussa Sanogo.

In the second half, Coach Nguyen Van Sy had to replace Van Quyen due to his deteriorating physical condition and not contributing much to the game play. Quite unexpectedly, Timothy Anjembe, the replacement for Quyen, shone with an important brace into Minh Nhut’s net at the 71^th and 84^th minute. Both of the goals came from Nigerian striker’s attempts with very tense shots in front of the 16m50 area that made ​​ Minh Nhut fail to react.

Interspersed between the two goals of Ninh Binh players, Xuan Thanh Saigon found 2 goals from Thanh Sang (after 46 minutes) and Tai Em (after 78 minutes). However, it is not enough for Coach Thuy team find a point and almost had no chance for the championship. Meanwhile, three valuable point helped Ninh Binh up 3 spots to reach the top half of the ranking.

Nguyen Tung