The 2023 Chinese Super League season, the 21st round started on August 8 with 4 leading matches. After fierce competition, Chengdu Rongcheng and Shanghai Port won on the road, Meizhou Hakka won at home, and Zhejiang and Nantong Zhiyun drew. Shanghai Port totaled 52 points, 13 points away from the league title.
Chinese Super League (CSL) table
Nantong Zhiyun Zhejiang 1-1
The Zhejiang team is located in the Huzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium. Head coach Jordy is from Spain. He got three foreigners to start in this game, including the dual strikers Mu Xiekui and Leonardo, as well as Li Tixiang, Gaudi, Lucas and Sun Zheng Ao. Nantong Zhiyun head coach Gabriele is also a Spaniard. He got four foreigners to start in this match, led by Romario, Putzlin, Wang Song, Bressan and Ye Lijiang.
The referee for this match was Guizhou's Wang Jing, with Chengdu's Tang Shunqi acting as VAR referee. Nantong Zhiyun was the first to break through, with Cao Kang's header scoring in the 16th minute to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Zhejiang equalized in the 44th minute when Sun Zheng's header deflected off a defender into the net. In the 79th minute, Zhejiang goalkeeper Zhao Bo ran out of the penalty area and was given a direct red card. Nantong Zhiyun had a chance, but unfortunately, he couldn't score another goal.
Zhejiang played a draw with their opponents at home, undefeated for 6 consecutive rounds of the league, and their overall performance has been pretty good lately. Zhejiang's total points improved to 32 points, still ranked fifth, but may be overtaken by Beijing Guoan and Wuhan Sanzhen after this round. Nantong Zhiyun unfortunately got only 1 point in 10 consecutive rounds. Nantong Zhiyun's total points improved to 16 and has been hovering on the edge of the relegation zone.
0-1 Chengdu Rongcheng Shandong Taishan
Shandong Taishan is located in Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium. The current coach is South Korean Choi Kang-hee. For the first time, a lineup of three foreigners has been released for this game, with Fellaini leading the way as a single striker and Liu Binbin, Li Yuanyi, Chen Pu, Moises and Jadason taking part in the game. Chengdu Rongcheng coach Seo Jung-won is also Korean. He also fielded three foreigners in the starting lineup, including Palacios, Tang Chuang, Jin You, Zhou Dingyang and Feng Zhuoyi.
Tianjin's Zhang Lei acted as VAR referee in Xinjiang's Mai Maiti Jiang. The deadlock of the match was broken in the 37th minute, with Chengdu Rongcheng taking a 1-0 lead away from home. From then on, Shandong Taishan's offense was never able to pry open the opponent's door, and the backline was under great threat, eventually losing at home.
Chengdu Rongcheng won on the road, ending their previous two consecutive losses. The total points have now improved to 36, temporarily surpassing Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Shenhua to advance to the second place in the table. However, Chengdu Rongcheng is 16 points behind Shanghai Harbor, basically no chance to compete for the title. Shandong Taishan lost at home and was temporarily squeezed into third place; but it doesn't matter. There is no chance to fight for the title anyway. Just get the AFC Champions League seat this season.
Changchun Yatai Meizhou Hakka 4-2
The Meizhou Hakka family sits in the Huitang Stadium at the Wuhua Olympic Sports Center. Coach Ristic is from Serbia. Four foreigners started the game, including Ye Chugui, Rodrigo, Kosovic, Liao Junjian and Dugalić. Changchun Yatai coach Chen Yang was the head coach of U22 national soccer team. The match starts with 3 foreigners, led by Lukic single striker, Cheng Changcheng, Zui, Tian Yuda, Okore, Tan Long and others.
Shanghai's Shen Yinhao was the referee for the match and Shenyang's Liu Wei was the VAR referee. Meizhou Hakka opened the scoring 16 seconds into the match when Kosovic crossed underneath and Rodrigo wrapped up the attack.Ru Zinan added a header in the 40th minute to give Meizhou Hakka a 2-goal lead.Changchun Yatai equalized in the 45th+4th minute when Zui scored from a direct set piece. Conrad scored in the 78th minute to give Meizhou Hakka a 2-goal lead. Zhang Yufeng scored in the 90th minute to give Changchun Yatai a goal back. Won Min-sung's oval in the 90th+3rd minute sealed the win for Meizhou Hakka.
Meizhou Hakka won their sixth league game of the season with a victory at home, growing their total to 22 points. Meizhou Hakka played a game first and is now 7 points ahead of Dalian Ren in the relegation zone, so the situation is safe for now. But Meizhou Hakka can't be sloppy. After all, there are many other fixtures. Changchun Yatai won 8 consecutive matches and are currently 9th, but face Cangzhou Lions 10th.
0-5 Shanghai Seaport Qingdao Sea Cow
Qingdao Hainiu is situated in Qingdao Youth Football Stadium in this round, and the current head coach Gomez is from Spain. This match excludes four foreigners from the starting lineup. Forbes is the single striker, including Kang Gua, Ma Xingyu, Saric, Andrejevic and Xu Dong. Shanghai Port head coach Pereira is also Spanish. He has debuted a two-foreigner lineup that includes Lv Wenjun, Joao and Wu Lei, as well as Oscar, Cai Huikang and Jiang Guangtai.
Beijing's Ma Li was the referee for the match, and VAR referee Liu Zhao was also from Beijing. Shanghai Seaport took the lead in the 23rd minute when Wu Lei hit the goal from a small angle, leading to a Ma Xing Yu oolong. In the 66th minute, Wu Lei sent a one-touch shot into the goal to give Shanghai Seaport a two-goal lead. In the 71st minute, Wu Lei picked a shot and turned it into an assist, with Karon quickly slotting in the ball. From there, Qingdao never scored again, but Shanghai Seaport was still extending its lead. Wu Lei scored twice in the 87th minute and Caron scored twice in the 90th +1 minute to give Shanghai Seaport a huge away win.
Shanghai Seaport took the game away from home, thus winning their sixth consecutive league game and increasing their total to 52 points, a long way from the league title. Among other teams, the highest theoretical score is Shanghai Shenhua's 65 points, and Seaport has a mutual record advantage over Shenhua. As a result, Shanghai Seaport can lock up the league title outright, 13 points away from the league title. Qingdao Hainiu lost at home and still have 19 points, the relegation pressure is still high. Fortunately, they are currently in an advantageous position.
