Hoang Anh Gia Lai wants to get points at Hang Day again

Round 18 takes place on April 12 and 13 with some interesting matches to watch, as teams competing for relegation will clash with championship candidates.

At 7:15 p.m. on April 12, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) will be a guest at Hang Day Stadium, the host Hanoi Police. The mountain town team just had an impressive performance with a "4-star" victory over Binh Duong in round 17, creating a safe point gap compared to the 2 teams at the bottom of the table. Having 21 points and temporarily rising to 8th place in the rankings is the motivation for Mr. Le Quang Trai and his team to confidently aim for at least a draw against Hanoi Police.

In the first leg, HAGL with a rejuvenated squad surprisingly defeated the expensive stars of the police team right at their home ground in Pleiku. In addition, Hanoi Police are showing signs of running out of steam when having to play at full strength in 3 major arenas, including V-League, National Cup and Southeast Asian Club Championship.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club will face a difficult challenge at Hang Day Stadium. Photo: VPF

Coach Polking's team aims to win the V-League, but the opportunity is gradually narrowing as they are 9 points behind the top team Nam Dinh after 17 rounds. Even reaching the top 3 of the V-League this season is a difficult task for Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates.

However, at the present time, Hanoi Police is still considered to be better than HAGL thanks to the home field advantage and a squad of highly qualified and professional players. Winning against the away team will not only help Mr. Polking and his team "take revenge" but also rekindle the opportunity to return to the top 3, continuing to compete for the championship.

Statistics from the beginning of the V-League this season also show that HAGL's performance on the opponent's field is not very good. After 9 away matches, the mountain town team won 2, lost 5 but once won against Hanoi FC at Hang Day Stadium. Therefore, the rematch between them and the home team Cong An Ha Noi promises to be very attractive and may contain a lot of drama.

Also in round 18, Binh Duong will host Da Nang at Go Dau Stadium at 6 p.m. on April 13. Criticized for playing weakly and underperforming in the loss to HAGL, the team from the land of Thu wants to win all 3 points in round 18 to regain the trust of the home crowd. This is not a difficult task for coach Nguyen Cong Manh and his team, when facing them, the team at the bottom of the rankings with a series of 3 recent losses.

Binh Duong's stars have been left 5 points behind the top 3 in the rankings. If they don't want to continue to "go empty-handed" in the highest level of competition in Vietnam this time, the home team at Go Dau Stadium needs to know how to accumulate maximum points when playing at home or competing with opponents who are considered weaker.

On the same day, Ho Chi Minh City FC also faced a difficult challenge when they had to play away at the "fire pan" Thien Truong, facing the reigning champion Nam Dinh. Although coach Phung Thanh Phuong's team created a safe distance from Da Nang, they still risked having to compete in the play-off if they did not improve their performance.

The "Red Battleship" faced a difficult problem with personnel in the second leg. Weak domestic players combined with low-quality foreign players who were often injured made coach Phung Thanh Phuong struggle to find a solution to rotate the squad. In round 17, Ho Chi Minh City Club was also held to a draw by Song Lam Nghe An because the squad was missing 2 foreign players.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hoang-anh-gia-lai-lai-muon-co-diem-o-hang-day-19625041121253308.htm