On the evening of July 8, with Beijing Guoan defeating Shenzhen 5-0, Wuhan Sanzhen defeating Changchun Yatai 2-1, and Shanghai Seaport shaking hands with Dalian 1-1, the 15th round of the 2023 Chinese Super League (CSL), the final round of the first half of the season, was completed. The standings after the halfway point give teams a rough idea of how they are positioned for the season, foreshadowing a more intense and even bitter competition in the second half of the year.
In the just-concluded "First and Last Dialogue", the home leader Shanghai Port was broken by Dalian's "young player" Yan Xiang, who was a bit ugly in the dominant situation. Fortunately, Li Shenglong then broke the header and equalized the score, also 1-1. It's also 1-1. Getting a point away from Shandong Taishan in the last round is not the same as getting a point at home in Dalian in this round. After two rounds of losses, Shanghai Port is still leading, but the advantage is shrinking. In the next round, they will host the defending champion Wuhan Sanzhen on July 12 at 19:00, which is another tough battle.
Shanghai Shenhua was the only one to win in the semi-final, with the same familiar scoreline of 1-0. Veteran Yu Hanchao once again played the role of Mr. Key as his team couldn't get off the mark. After the match, Shanghai Shenhua amassed 31 points and ranked second. Next up, Shenhua hosted Shandong Taishan. It was a card duel worth 6 points. Shandong Taishan, who lost 0-1 in the first round, will surely take full revenge.
Chengdu Rongcheng's morale suffered after their undefeated record was broken for 27 consecutive rounds across the season. In addition, due to the untidy lineup, goalkeeper Zhang Yan dyed red very early. They suffered two consecutive defeats in this round with a 1-3 defeat on the road against Meizhou Hakka. In the next round, they look forward to returning home. In the Central Plains powerhouse Henan, they both scored 3 points to get back on the winning track.
Tianjin Jinmen Tigers drew 1-1 with Nantong Jiyun with Xie Weijun's stoppage time equalizer, making them the only team in the Chinese Super League to go 15 consecutive rounds undefeated.
Relying on Fellaini's assist on Jadson's whistle-reading goal, Shandong Taishan continued their steady climb back up the table by beating Henan 1-0 to move from 6th to 5th in the table.
In the just concluded match, Beijing Guoan beat Shenzhen 5-0, making it two wins in a row with a hat-trick from Wang Ziming and goals from Park Cheng and Feng Boxuan. After the match, Beijing Guoan also steadily moved up a spot in the rankings, from 7th to 6th.
In a jam-packed showdown worth six points, foreigners Davidson and Aziz hit penalties to beat Changchun Yatai 2-1, securing their first home win and overtaking Changchun Yatai in the standings, moving up from 8th to 7th.The defending champions seem to see hope of catching up.
Changchun Yatai seems to be stuck in a strange circle of "win" → loss → win → in "loss", after losing this battle, they are back from the fifth place to the eighth place. Next, in the first round of the second half of the year, Changchun Yatai will return home to face Zhejiang. Based on recent trends, can they win this game?
Although Zhejiang has just brought in Leonardo, a powerful scorer who matches Mu Xiekui, they have suffered two consecutive defeats recently and are in a bit of a slump, and need to gel and adjust into place as soon as possible. Otherwise, the ninth position will soon be unprotected.
Cangzhou Lions relied on foreigner Owusu's juggling shot to break through the goal, and it was acceptable to take a point away from promoted horse Qingdao Hainiu 1-1. After the game, Cangzhou Lions are in 10th place with 17 points, and will play Tianjin Jinmen Tiger again in the next round. Whether or not the Lions can break the Jinmen Tigers' undefeated streak will be the biggest highlight of the match.
After being killed off by Shandong Taishan, Henan still amassed 15 points to sit in 11th place, and against a depleted Chengdu Rongcheng squad, Meizhou Hakka gained a crucial 3 points to move up from 13th to 12th. But they are only 3 points ahead of the relegation zone and cannot be taken lightly.
Nantong Zhiyun relied on Cao Kang's goal to get 3 points at the first sight. As a result, they were defeated by Tianjin Jinmen Tiger before the end of extra time, and ended up with only 1 point. They scored 11 points and ranked 13th, the pressure of relegation is still high.
Shenzhen remains 14th with 11 points after their 0-5 loss to Beijing Guoan. although they are not yet in the relegation zone, they are facing a very dangerous relegation from the 5-goal defeat. In the second half of the year, Shenzhen may gradually land in the relegation zone. It should be noted that in the next round, Shenzhen will challenge Qingdao Hainiu on the road. If they fail again, they will slip into the relegation zone.
Qingdao Manatees and Dalian People are two teams from the "soccer city". After the halfway point, both teams are in the relegation zone with 11 points, which is saddening. Next, they must pull themselves together and fight for every point. If you can do well, relegation is not impossible.
For example, in the just-concluded match, Dalian people snatched a very precious point from the leader Shanghai seaport on the road. Most people must not have dared to expect this point before the match. But in reality, they did. It was a team effort and tenacity.
