On August 4, the 21st round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) ushered in a strong dialogue between Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua, the oldest and most powerful team in the league, at the Workers' Stadium. This game is not only about the ranking of the two teams in the table, but also a competition of skill and will.
In the first half of the game, Beijing Guoan quickly got into the state, utilizing the home field advantage to launch a fierce attack on Shanghai Shenhua. Beijing Guoan got a corner kick opportunity, Ngaardew jumped up high in the penalty area, overpowered the Shenhua defenders, and made a precise header to break the deadlock on the field, taking the lead for Guoan, 1-0. After the goal, Guoan's morale was boosted, and continued to strengthen the attack, while Shenhua looked a bit panicked, and failed to organize a decent counter-attack effectively.
In the second half, Shanghai Shenhua gradually found the rhythm of the game and began to strengthen the attack to try to equalize the score. Shenhua's brilliant play finally came to fruition, as Malelai parried the ball into the box and pushed the ball into the goal to equalize the score, 1-1. This goal greatly boosted Shenhua's morale and they started to take the initiative on the field.
However, Beijing Guoan did not get discouraged. In the closing stages of the game, Guoan's manager made a key adjustment by replacing Wang Ziming, who has both speed and skill. This substitution had an immediate effect. In stoppage time, Guoan team got a counterattack opportunity, Prince Ming received a teammate's exquisite direct feed, with excellent speed and calm mind, single knife to go, a cool shot through the Shenhua team's defense, killed the opponent, for Guoan team to lock the victory, 2-1.
With the final whistle blowing, Beijing Guoan beat Shanghai Shenhua 2-1 at home, not only taking all three points, but also giving their rivals their first loss of the season.
