On the evening of July 12, Beijing time, the 16th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) staged a key battle, with leader Shanghai Port hosting defending champion Wuhan Sanzhen. It should have been an exciting duel, but referee Ma Ning stole all the spotlight. In the first half, he showed two red cards and three yellow cards in four minutes, leaving Wuhan Sanzhen one man short and putting the game out of reach. Such punishment also made people sigh, there is no problem with strict law enforcement, but there are too many double standards.
Both sides fielded their main players in this match and the game started with a good back and forth fight. In the 38th minute, Caron fell to the ground under Wang Yi's defense and referee Maning took a penalty kick, but Oscar's shot was easily confiscated by Wuhan Sanzhen goalkeeper Liu Dianzheng. However, the latter was badly beaten within six minutes. Renhang beat Caron in defense. As a result, two yellow cards were issued. Subsequently, Wei Shihao, who was on the bench, was also sent off for a heated protest. In addition, two Wuhan players, He Chao and Wu Fei, were also shown yellow cards for dissenting against the penalty, while Hong Kong's Buitijiang received a yellow card for a foul in the third minute of injury time. In other words, Manning showed 2 reds and 3 yellows in 4 minutes, while Wuhan suffered a major loss of 2 reds and 2 yellows. Here, we can't help but wonder if the players have no right to question the referee's decisions. Manning's consecutive cards were clearly a bit of an overreaction.
Wei Shihao and others protested because Ren Hang's second yellow card was indeed a bit of an aggravation. At the time, Caron pulled first, and Ren Hang unconsciously hit Caron as he was getting away, but Manning showed the yellow card for the first time. However, he apparently forgot that Renhang already had a yellow card on him, so he didn't produce a red card and ended up penalizing Renhang on the prompting of the Hong Kong player. If it was to ensure the integrity, spectacle and flow of the game, this yellow card would have been completely impossible to take out. But not only did Manning forget that he had given Ren Hang a card earlier, he also needed to be reminded by others to show the red card. As a referee, his professionalism is questionable.
Also, is there a problem in the Caron penalty area, where Zhang Linpeng dropped Aziz with a similar move in the 28th minute, but Manning was indifferent. There was also a lot of foul play in Hong Kong before Caron established a starting point, but it was ignored by Manning, which is clearly a suitable double standard.
There are two other puzzling issues with this game. First, it was a CFA match, but Shanghai TV was responsible for providing the VAR video. Second, throughout the game, Shanghai TV's photography was facing Wuhan Sanzhen's bench. Apart from Wuhan Sanzhen, there is no sub number of Chinese Super League teams enjoying such treatment this season. Because of this, fans not only witnessed the scene where Maning penalized Renhang, but also saw the whole process of his penalty for Wei Shihao's red card. Was Shanghai TV's photographic uncertainty prophetic, knowing from the outset that there would be a story on Wuhan Sanzhen's bench?
In an exciting soccer match, the referee almost disappeared, the players focused on the game and the fans cheered for their team. The match between Wuhan Sanzhen and Shanghai Port belonged to the top duel of the Chinese Super League. The match started off really exciting and interesting. However, the frequent shooting of card master Maning managed to steal the limelight from the 22 players on the court. There were Shandong Taishan in front of them and Wuhan Sanzhen behind them. This famous Chinese Super League whistle never seems to want to be alone, and will not give up without being the protagonist.
Actually, it's the same thing, there's nothing wrong with strict enforcement by referees, but there are too many double standards. Chinese soccer is worn out. Even if you don't stitch it up, you have to cause trouble. It's so wrong.
