After the match, coach Mai Xuan Hop of the Thanh team said that some decisions from the refereeing team and the VAR system affected the match situation.
The controversial situation occurred in the 19th minute when Rimario fell in the penalty area due to Tan Tai's impact from behind. Referee Hoang Thanh Binh initially allowed the match to continue, before consulting VAR.
After a fairly long time reviewing the video, the refereeing team determined that Rimario was offside before the collision occurred, so they did not award Thanh Hoa a penalty.
Coach Mai Xuan Hop expressed his opinion: "I don't understand why not only in this match, but in many previous matches, decisions seem to always be disadvantageous for Thanh Hoa. In the penalty situation, when checking VAR, they saw very clearly. Helerson is the last person, so how can he be offside?".
According to Mr. Mai Xuan Hop, the referee's handling also interrupted the pace of the match. Thanh Hoa's coach added: "There are many situations where Thanh Hoa players only touch lightly and are penalized. Meanwhile, Ha Tinh players collide with us, but there is no reaction from the referee. That makes the match interrupted and the pace broken.
In injury time, Ha Tinh had a decisive goal. From a free kick on the wing, the ball was crossed into the penalty area for Helerson to jump high and head in the 90+3 minute, bringing a 1-0 victory for the away team.
After the match, coach Mai Xuan Hop continued to express his dissatisfaction with the match management. He said: "After watching VAR, I also cannot accept the referee's explanation. Frankly, I don't understand what they did on the field.
The defeat makes Thanh Hoa continue to rank 12th in the standings with 13 points after 15 rounds and face great pressure in the relegation race.
However, coach Mai Xuan Hop still acknowledged the efforts of his players in the context that the team is facing difficulties in terms of force because FIFA has not yet lifted the penalty to add players.
