SHB DN might feel that they were robbed of a well-deserved win at the Chi Lang Stadium yesterday, and they undoubtedly will be wishing for the introduction of goal-line technology. 

In this derby match against QNK Quang Nam, Nguyen Sa scored early for SHB DN, but QNK QN soon countered when their Congolese star striker Tambwe scored his 6^th goal in 7 matches.

SHB DN then piled on the pressure to try to pull off the win, but they missed several scoring opportunities due to inaccurate shots and loose passing.  In particular, midfielder Vu Phong struck the post in the 28^th minute, and striker Pejic shot directly at QNK QN’s goalkeeper Pham Van Cuong in the 42^nd minute.

SHB DN players arguing with referee Hoang Ngoc Ha (second left) after the goal was disallowed

At the other end, SHB DN’s goalkeeper Le Van Hung made his mark on the game by saving shots from Tambwe in the 13^th minute and Thanh Nam in second-half stoppage time.  

Ten minutes from the final whistle, SHB DN’s second-half substitute Quach Tan sent in a shot and the ball appeared to have crossed the line into the QN goal before spinning back out.  Indeed, referee Hoang Ngoc Ha thought so too, and he awarded the goal to SHB DN.  Then, having been surrounded by the appealing QN players, he reversed his decision and the score remained at 1-1, as it did until the end of the game.  Now it was the turn of the SHB DN players to argue with the referee, and in total the match was delayed by at least 10 minutes.  Later, SHB DN’s coach Dao Quang Hung accused referee Ha of being indecisive, and affirmed that he had seen the ball crossing the line from the bench.

Both sides may have had grounds for their appeals but they should remember a basic rule of football - “The referee is always right” - even when he changes his mind! 

SHB DN remain 3^rd from bottom after 7 games - their worst start to a season for many years - and they should look at the reasons for this rather than perhaps focusing on this one refereeing incident.  Clearly, having scored just 8 goals in those 7 games, they have a problem with their strike force, which is not helped by the 3-match suspension of their top scorer Gomez.  Another problem seems to be a growing lack of discipline and self control, particularly in the closing stages of tense games.  Last weekend’s win against Hai Phong was marred by SHB DN’s 3 cautions and the one sending off in the final 10 minutes, and the week before they had received 5 cautions during the second half against HAGL.  Yesterday’s match was much the same with players risking being booked and then missing games later in the season.

Next Saturday at 4.30pm, in their last game before an 8-week break in the season, SHB DN play away at Long An in yet another tough fixture.  Yesterday Long An had a convincing 3-1 win over the current league leaders Binh Duong.

In this weekend’s other matches Song Lam Nghe An had a 2-0 home win over Ha Noi T&T, whilst Dong Thap suffered a 0-1 home defeat to Sanna Khanh Hoa.  Can Tho beat Hoang Anh Gia Lai 3-1 at home, Dong Nai played out a goalless draw against Hai Phong, and Quang Ninh lost 0-1 to Thanh Hoa at the Cam Pha Stadium.

(Written by Ian Lister)