Reporter Chen Yong reports Who would have thought that Beijing Guoan and Chengdu Rongcheng, who had won five consecutive victories in the first five rounds of the game, would actually overturn when facing Qingdao Shuangxiong in this round?
Against Beijing Guoan, although Qingdao Manatee has the advantage of home court, the gap between the strength of the two sides is too large; Away against Chengdu Rongcheng, Qingdao West Coast has performed well this season, but against the top team, it is not easy to play away from home. In addition, the performance of the strong teams in the Chinese Super League in the last round was really eye-catching, Shenhua and Rongcheng both won by 4 goals, and Guoan, Haigang and Taishan were also won without blood. Therefore, before this round of matches, the outside world did not have much hope for the two teams in Qingdao.
But the final result was: Qingdao Manatee drew 1-1 at home with Beijing Guoan, and Liu Junshuai drew in the 94th minute of the game; Qingdao West Coast drew 1-1 away at Chengdu Rongcheng and stubbornly equalized after conceding a goal first. Qingdao Shuangxiong, both completed the second attack on the strong team this season.
Just 15 minutes into the opening game, Felipe's magical short-range lob helped Chengdu Rongcheng break the deadlock, considering that Chengdu Rongcheng beat Meizhou Hakka 4-0 away in the last round, and Qingdao West Coast lost 0-4 away to Shanghai Shenhua, Chengdu Rongcheng's goal seemed to make the game out of suspense.
But Qingdao West Coast did not give up, they equalised in the 23rd minute of the game, and in the 41st minute of the game, Li Hao became the hero, facing Romulo's penalty, he not only saved the penalty, but also quickly got up to block the cross. The 21-year-old's magic didn't end there: he saved Felipe's close-range header in the 55th minute of the second half. In the 59th minute of the game, Hu Hetao was sent off for two yellows and one red, and then Chengdu Rongcheng, who played one less game, still continued to attack, but Qingdao West Coast finally drew 1-1.
This game has a great impact on the championship pattern, Shanghai Shenhua and Chengdu Rongcheng after three consecutive rounds of the same number of points, Shanghai Shenhua once again took a 2-point lead and dominated the table.
At present, Qingdao West Coast ranks 8th in the Chinese Super League with 17 points with one less game, 1 point behind Yunnan Yukun, 2 points behind Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, followed by 16 points from Zhejiang and 14 points from Dalian InBev, these five teams are the five teams with stable performance outside the top five in the standings.
After the 1-1 draw away to Chengdu Rongcheng, coupled with the previous 3-3 draw with Shanghai Port in the third round, Qingdao West Coast has blocked the super team twice this season, which has greatly affected the situation of the championship. Although they suffered big defeats against Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Shenhua, the team quickly stabilized, winning Dalian InBev and drawing Chengdu Rongcheng successively. This ability to adjust also proves Shao Jiayi's control of the team. In the final battle of the TOP5 in the first leg, the "late" Shao Jiayi returned to the "Provincial Battle" of the Workers' Stadium, and the make-up match will be held on June 17.
Qingdao Manatee has not performed well this season, having been winless in 10 rounds, and suffered four consecutive defeats from rounds 5 to 8. However, in the 10th round of the Chinese Super League, they stubbornly drew Shandong Taishan 1-1 away, which became a turning point for Qingdao Manatee, and then they defeated Changchun Yatai 3-0 at home, which also put Taishan team in extreme trouble.
In the last round, they lost 1-3 away to Shanghai Port, but the team's confidence and fighting spirit continued, and although they fell behind 0-1 for a long time in the match against Beijing Guoan, their efforts paid off in the final moments of the game: Liu Junshuai equalized with a header in the 94th minute.
In the first half, although Qingdao Manatee had less than 30% possession, the team had as many as 6 shots on goal, and at the same time suppressed Beijing Guoan's shots on goal to 5 through tenacious defense, and both sides had 11 shots on goal in the whole game, and the number of shots on target was also 3 to 3, such data also witnessed the efforts of Qingdao Manatee.
Snatching 1 point from Shandong Taishan and Beijing Guoan is too crucial for Qingdao Manatee: at present, Qingdao Manatee has 8 points, 3 points behind Shenzhen Xinpeng City and Henan Jiuzu Dukang (one less round), 4 points behind Meizhou Hakka and Wuhan Three Towns, if you can't steal points from the strong team, then it's not just a game behind.
What's more, the confidence that Qingdao Manatee has gained is very crucial to their relegation, and in addition, Li Xiaopeng has made a significant transformation of Qingdao Manatee at the technical and tactical level this season, and this transformation has also begun to stabilize.
For Qingdao Manatee, the most important thing at present is the second transfer reinforcement, according to the plan Qingdao Manatee will introduce a striker player, if the center Santiago can come back, Qingdao Manatee's subsequent games are worth looking forward to, of course, the financial problems that plague Qingdao Manatee Club also need to be solved.