In the final moments of the match with Qingdao Hainiu on the night of 15th, Jiang Shenglong and Ma Lailai scored consecutively to help Shenhua beat Qingdao Hainiu at home by 2.:0. According to the official statistics of the Chinese Super League, Shenhua scored 9 goals in the last 15 minutes of the game (including the injury time period) this season, the most goals in the whole league. Being able to score in the last minute of the game reflects the team's continued fighting strength and tenacity, which deserves to be recognized. After the match, Head Coach Slutsky summed up: "Breaking through dense defenses is a recognized problem in world soccer, but I'm glad the players didn't give up in the face of difficulties. They fought until the last moment and scored the goal."
Slutsky continued his coaching habits. Qingdao Manatees came into this game second from bottom and didn't make many changes to their starting lineup. Malalele and the injured Manafa returned to the starting lineup after being released from suspension. Amadou was a bit injured and took a break. The consequent changes were Xie Pengfei to the No.10 position, Wu Xi back to No.8 from right back, and Wang Haijian replacing Amadou.
However, after the "Super Cup" and 11 rounds of continuous fighting, individual players have shown fatigue, which directly affects their form. Since the last round, the intensity of Shenhua's attack in the midfield and the speed of attacking and defending have both dropped significantly. As a result, it was difficult for Shenhua to face the opponent's intensive defense in the last two rounds at the offensive end.
Of course, Teixeira's absence due to injury has also had a big impact on Shenhua. "Facing the opponent's dense defense, on one hand, we will choose more side passes to increase the height advantage of our two wingers, which may be more appropriate. But we also have a second option, which is that we need more players in the middle to pass and shift the ball and then deliver penetrating passes. Our #10 today was Xie Pengfei, whose characteristics are more suited to playing on the wing. In the absence of Teixeira, our center players might miss the last pass, so we opted for more passing to create chances."
However, Shenhua's passing was not good today. In the whole game, Shenhua had 50 passes with only 26% success rate. When you react on the pitch, you play with average results. As a result, Slutsky likes to sit in the coach's box and rock back and forth. Today, he got up and rushed to the side of the court and kept scratching his head with his hand. Anxiety became more and more evident on Slutsky's face as the game wore on.
Shenhua, who were slow to get off the mark, almost went ahead due to a mistake. In the 75th minute, Bao Yaxiong's direct pass was broken up by Wang, who pushed an open goal. Fortunately, Jiang Shenglong quickly returned to rescue the insurance so he could keep the goal. Jiang Shenglong said: "As a defender, I won't let others score easily. There are always mistakes on the defense, but we'll make up for it."
After the game, Slutsky praised Jiang Shenglong as the hero of the team today. He not only saved a goal, but also opened the first record for his team at the end of the game. In the 88th minute, after Manafa's pass down the right side, Mou Pengfei attacked and collided with the defense players, Jiang Shenglong shot the ball with his left bow in the penalty area, which was the 1,500th goal in Shenhua's history. Jiang Shenglong said: "All our coaches and players didn't give up and insisted until the last moment. Because we are at home, others won't come up with a point so easily. We have to win the three points."
After the goal, the Shenhua players on the pitch were finally relieved, and the second goal came soon after. In the fourth minute of extra time, Luis slotted in from the left side of the penalty area, and Han Chao crossed the ball from the bottom line of the left side of the penalty area to substitute. Malelai shot in front of the goal and Shenhua finally beat Qingdao Hainiu by two goals. Slutsky said: "Everyone could see that it was difficult to score in today's game against the opponent's dense defense. I think if the first goal would have come earlier, we would have gotten more space and chances."
As a matter of fact, set-pieces are also a very effective way to break up dense defenses. In today's game, Shenhua got as many as 10 corner kicks, but the overall threat is not big. Shenhua has many players with excellent footwork, such as Xie Pengfei and Xu Haoyang. , and there are also high points like Jiang Shenglong and Luis, who is very good at heading the ball. In the next interval, Shenhua can do more on corner kick tactics and prepare accordingly in advance for the next tougher sprint game.
Next week, the Chinese Super League (CSL) will have a week of double matches, with Shenhua taking on Henan and Shenzhen Xinpengcheng on the road. The Chinese Super League will then go on a short break due to international match days.
