NAM ĐỊNH Home advantage proved no help as Nam Định stumbled to a 0-2 defeat against Hà Nội Police Club in V.League 1 on Sunday, leaving the defending champions in seventh place and deepening fans' doubts over their form.

Coach Vũ Hồng Việt admitted his team underperformed.

“Honestly, my players did not play well in this match," he said. "We couldn’t control the game and lost possession too often, which allowed our opponents to dominate and capitalized our mistakes. I believe this defeat was deserved.”

The defeat at Thiên Trường Stadium marks Nam Định’s second consecutive loss in the national premier league, following setbacks against Ninh Bình and Hà Nội Police.

Việt acknowledged the challenges posed by a tight schedule and frequent changes to the starting lineup.

“The tight schedule means we have only two days to recover and prepare for the next match, and having a different lineup each time is a challenge for the whole team. However, despite this loss, we still have many matches ahead of us. We need to learn from our mistakes and improve the team's weaknesses.”

Highlighting a bright spot, Việt praised foreign player Percy Tau.

“Percy Tau was the brightest spot for our team in this match. When he was on the field, our attacking capability improved significantly," he said.

"We haven’t used Percy in previous matches due to squad limitations and injuries, which required us to adjust our foreign players. In the upcoming matches, we will plan for Percy Tau to play more.”

Despite securing a second win over Nam Định this season, Hà Nội Police head coach Alexandre Polking showed respect for the reigning champions.

“I believe Nam Định will come back strongly because they have many quality players. In this match, they also had moments of good play, especially with Percy Tau on the field, but we were more focused and secured the victory,” Polking said.

Both Nam Định and Hà Nội Police Club will continue to compete in the AFC Champions League Two and the ASEAN Club Championship next week. VNS