The third round of the F.A.C. Cup has begun, and one of the marquee matches is the showdown between Super League leaders Shanghai Harbour and relegated Central League One side Guangzhou. Two years ago, this match would have been a tit-for-tat confrontation. However things are different now. Guangzhou has fallen apart over the past two seasons and now sits in third place in the Central League. Their goal is to fight for relegation. In contrast, Seaports are at the top of the Chinese Super League table with a whopping 29 points from their first 12 games of the season, making them one of the strongest teams in domestic soccer in China. In this match, although Harbour Team will challenge Guangzhou on the road, their superior strength is likely to make it through to the next level.
The starting lineup, Guangzhou's 433 formation, featured Zhang Jianzhi guarding the city, Wang Wenxuan and Feng Yifan as dual center backs, and Fan Hengbo and Wang Shilong separating the left and right ends. Bugra Khan, Hou Yu and Zhang Zili made up the three midfielders, while Wu Junjie, Zhang Dachie and Yang Hao made up the three strikers. Taishan was the response to the 343 attacking formation, with goalkeeper Yan Junling, Wei Zhen, He Xi and Yu Hai the three center backs, Feng Jin, Yang Shiyuan, Li Shenyuan and Li Shuai sitting in the four central midfielders, and Vargas, Pinko and Liu Xiaolong making up the three arrows.
After the opening, Guangzhou was not conservative and dared to compete with Port in the midfield. Both sides were deadlocked for 20 minutes. Port's offense was more efficient. They created threats in front of the goal many times. Zhang Jianzhi played well, avoiding danger many times and trying to make sure the goal would not be lost. At the end of the half, Port's offense failed and the two sides continued to play 0-0. Obviously, the situation was more favorable to Guangzhou, and as long as we could drag the game into overtime, the hope of winning would be greatly increased. Therefore, Port needed to make adjustments. Javier replaced Feng Jin with Li Shenglong.
In the replay, Seaport accelerated the attacking rhythm, while Guangzhou team's physical strength obviously dropped and the defense intensity was insufficient. In the 50th minute, Li Shuai side pass, Pinko center grabbed the goal, the port opened the goal account. Oscar organized the attack 76 minutes, the right side of the box pass, sea header transition to Lu Wenjun, the latter easily broke the goal, seaport 2 goals ahead.
In the 83rd minute of the game, Wang Shijie managed to squeeze past an opponent and scored a goal, equalizing a point for Guangzhou. In the 86th minute of the match, Oscar appeared on the field again and he passed the ball to buy Tijiang on the right. Then, Li Shenglong came to grab the ball and successfully kicked it into the opponent's goal, and the score became 3-1. Harbour Team got their first win in the F.A.C.A. Cup match, and successfully advanced to the last 16 of the competition.
