The third round of the group stage of the 2023/24 AFC Champions League continues on the evening of October 25th, Beijing time. Last season's Chinese Super League runner-up Shandong Taishan visited Incheon United, the Korean K-League powerhouse. After a 90-minute battle, Shandong Taishan showed strong strength on the road and won 2-0, quickly occupying the first place in the group standings. Meanwhile, Zhejiang also beat Japanese Second Division side Kofu Fukabayashi 2-0 at home. Together with Wuhan Sanzhen's 2-1 home win over Hanoi of Vietnam yesterday, the three teams in the Chinese Super League have all performed brightly in this round of the AFC Champions League group stage, bringing joy to their fans.
The first round of the 2017 AFC Champions League group stage was the last time a Chinese Super League (CSL) team won a single round of AFC Champions League matches outright. At that time, Shanghai SIPG beat Seoul FC 1-0 away from home, Jiangsu Suning beat Jeju United 1-0 away from home, while Guangzhou Evergrande thrashed Oriental Dragons 7-0 at home. This time the Chinese Super League trio teamed up to challenge South Korean giants Incheon United's Shandong Taishan in one of their toughest away matches. However, they also earned the most convincing victory.
Shandong Taishan beat Changchun Yatai 3-0 on the road in their last Chinese Super League match, but paid a heavy price as three foreigners were injured one after another. Fellaini suffered a broken nose, Cressan had six stitches in his tongue, and striker Pato suffered an elbow injury and straight away didn't travel with the team to the match. Despite this, Shandong Taishan remained undaunted on the road against a tough opponent. After the first ten minutes, they took control of the game with their excellent footwork and smooth passing game. They also impressed with their tightly organized formation and ferocious pressing in front of the ball.
At the beginning of the second half, Taishan and their opponents continued to engage in a fierce battle of offense and defense. In the 55th minute, Cressan and Liu Binbin came on as substitutes, while Xie Wenneng and Li Yuanyi went off first to rest. Choi Kang-hee's courageous decision-making was marvelous, as he removed a back-rower and replaced him with a striker. Just a minute later, Klassan broke the deadlock by hitting a worldie. In the 87th minute, he gave another assist as Fellaini got away from the defense in the box and scored, sealing Taishan's win for good at 2-0.
In this game, although the possession rate of Taishan was slightly lower than 45%, the number of shots on goal exceeded that of their opponents, reaching 15, which was more than their opponents' 11. Taishan's 4 successful shots on goal were equal to their opponents, so it can be said that the process and result of this game were very satisfactory. And it was also the first time in the history of AFC Champions League that Taishan team won away from home against a Korean team. After this game, they went to the top of the table on goal difference, and the prospect of going out is very bright.
Zhejiang showed strength against Japan's Emperor's Cup champion Kofu Fung Lam. After all, the opponent was only a Nippon Professional B team. Lucas and Mu Xiekui scored one goal each in the first and second halves. Goalkeeper Zhao Bo showed 6 heroic saves to keep the goal intact. Zhejiang had highlights in both offense and defense, and a 2-0 win was justified.
Against the backdrop of yesterday's first AFC Champions League victory in the history of Wuhan's three towns, the Chinese Super League's three giants showed an all-round red-hot form, injecting a shot in the arm for the sluggish Chinese soccer. However, while some are happy, others are depressed. One of them is the traditional powerhouse of Thai Super League, Pathum United. In this round of matches, they suffered a 2-4 defeat at home to Kawasaki Frontale, suffering three consecutive defeats, scoring 5 goals and conceding 11, making them an unimpressive team in the AFC Champions League. However, it was the same team that managed to hold off Shanghai Seaport from advancing to the main round of the AFC Champions League with a 3-2 victory away from home in the AFC Champions League playoffs. For Shanghai Seaport, the embarrassing situation they faced with their third consecutive loss was undoubtedly the most embarrassing.
At one point in this season's Chinese Super League, Shanghai Seaport was 15 points ahead, and despite their recent poor record, they still maintain a 5-point lead. However, it doesn't seem very convincing for such a team to get the Chinese Super League title. In the next round of matches, Shanghai Seaport will face Shandong Taishan at home, hoping that Taishan can seize the opportunity to catch up and eventually win the title against all odds. This is also the expectation of all the fans in China (except the fans of Harbor).
