Sai Gon FC struggled at Go Dau Stadium and fell to a 3-1 defeat to the home team Becamex Binh Duong. — Photo thanhnien.vn

"We lost this match, but our chance to win is still very high. Now we need to focus on each game. The chances of winning are still divided equally among every club."

Sai Gon played well in the first 20 minutes before goalkeeper Pham Van Phong made a terrible mistake and allowed Tong Anh Ty's weak shot to slip under him for the first goal.

Forced to find an equalising goal, Sai Gon pushed forward and left gaps in the back with Binh Duong’s Nguyen Tran Viet Cuong and Nguyen Tien Linh exploited for two more goals.

Binh Duong also marked Sai Gon's star Brazilian forward tightly Paulo Pedro, leading to a tough outing for Sai Gon’s leading scorer.

The visitors then changed their tactics to focus their attacking play on their other Brazilian forward Geovane Magno, but he was unlucky in front of goal, striking the woodwork no less than three times.

Sai Gon could only manage a late consulate goal from substitute Vo Nguyen Hoang in the 92nd minute.

"Sai Gon were forced to push up after conceding the early goal, leading to a very high risk of counter-attack, which was applied so well by Binh Duong", Thanh explained.

"I think at this stage, every match is final, we had to score and I asked the players to push forward. But our attack was ineffective.

“Paulo Pedro has just come back from injury, so for him to show high form like he used to in the first phase of the V.League 1 is very difficult. We were also unlucky when the ball hit the crossbar and the post three times," he added.

This second defeat of the season caused Sai Gon to lose the top spot to Viettel who beat HCM City FC 1-0.

On October 19, there will be a derby match between Sai Gon and HCM City at Thong Nhat Stadium. Sai Gon beat their rivals one-nil in the first half of the season.  VNS

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