In the 28th round of the Chinese Super League, Zhejiang, still the first team of the season, played Meizhou Hakka on the road, which was the first game of the round. As a county team, Meizhou Hakka is full of toughness. Recently, they played the devil's home field and improved their performance. After being relegated early, they are still grabbing points like crazy. Zhejiang is the king of the second half of the Chinese Super League and is in an unbeatable state in the second half. They have never lost, but their performance in the AFC Champions League is out of contrast, suffering two consecutive defeats in the group stage of the AFC Champions League.
The game was destined to stick when two teams in hot league form of late met. Zhejiang head coach Jordy started with a 4231 formation with Mu Xiekui becoming the single arrow and Evra, Frank and Cheng Jin becoming the three forwards. Qian Jie and Li Tixiang became the double back, Yue Xin, Lucas Porcinolo, Sun Zheng Ao and Dong Yu became the four defenders and Zhao Bo. Meizhou Hakka coach Milan Ristic also started a 4231 formation with Cheng Yuelei, Dugalic, Kosovic, Rodrigo Enrique, Conrad and Ye Chugui.
The game started off in Zhejiang's rhythm, but Meizhou Hakka defended stoutly and keeper Cheng Yuelei pulled his form full circle. In the 8th minute of the match, Mu Xiekui was shot by Cheng Yuelei with one hand; in the 39th minute of the match, Mu Xiekui shot from close range and was again settled by Cheng Yuelei. As Zhejiang wasted frequent attacking chances, Mu Xiekui felt bad about shooting and they were soon punished. In the 45th+2nd minute of the match, Meizhou Hakka broke through through a counterattack. Conrad launched a one-handed shot into the far corner of the net during a high-speed counterattack to make it 0-1 Zhejiang Meizhou Hakka.
In the second half, Zhejiang's offense didn't decrease, but the attacking group led by Mu Xiekui still didn't seize the opportunity well. It wasn't until the final moments of the game that Mu Xiekui finally completed the equalizer goal in the 90th+8th minute of the game. Evra hit the back post from a tight angle and the follow-up was replicated directly by Mu Xiekui with a follow-up shot. Zhejiang beat Meizhou Hakka 1-1 and struggled to get a point.
In the whole game, Zhejiang team's possession rate was 68%, and compared with Meizhou Hakka team's shot rate was 20-14, and shot rate was 9-6, which finally became an absolute draw of 1-1. Meizhou Hakka goalkeeper Cheng Yuelei got the highest score of the game due to many wonderful saves, scoring 8.5 points in the match, while Zhejiang team Li Tixiang also performed well, getting 8.1 points.
Despite getting one point, Zhejiang temporarily overtook Shanghai Shenhua to make a strong return to the position and return to the top three in the Chinese Super League standings. The first game with 49 minutes ranked third, Taishan with 51 points ranked second, Shenhua with 48 points ranked fourth. According to statistics, Zhejiang team in the second half of a record, rarely achieved 13 consecutive undefeated. From round 16 to round 28, they won nine and drew four, soaring all the way to the top three. Meizhou Hakka are also soaring up the table, with a six-game unbeaten streak at home, four wins and two draws. They entered the top 10 of the Super League with 34 points and are temporarily in 10th place.
