SHB Da Nang’s coach Le Huynh Duc could not hide his disappointment at his team’s home loss to Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) on Sunday afternoon.  SHB DN now languish next to bottom of the league, one of only 2 teams not to have gained a point from either of their first 2 games this season.

Just like last week, SHB DN scored first, in only the 2^nd minute, but then threw away their lead to eventually lose 1-2.  This time it was the turn of their other new foreign striker, Anto Pejic, to score but SLNA hit back quickly.

SLNA and SHB DN players

Within 5 minutes, SHB DN's loose defence provided SLNA’s Ghanaian striker Abubakar Mahadi with the opportunity to level the game, and then in the 11^th minute he scored again for the visitors.

Coach Duc mainly blames the loss on repeated mistakes by defenders, bad ball control by the midfielders, and the lack of the necessary support from the players.  

In the other matches, Dong Thap were held to a 1-1 draw against Can Tho at the Cao Lanh Stadium, whilst Quang Ninh lost 0-1 at home to Ha Noi T&T.  Quang Nam were beaten 2-4 at home by Binh Duong, whilst Long An defeated Hoang Anh Gia Lai 2-1 at the Long An Stadium.

Hai Phong had a 2-0 home win over Thanh Hoa, and Dong Nai suffered a 2-1 away loss to Khanh Hoa.

SHB DN’s next game is very tough - away to defending champions and current leaders Binh Duong at 5.00pm on Saturday 17 January.  Binh Duong have scored a total of 10 goals in their opening 2 matches.