The third matchday of the third round of the AFC Cup has arrived. Since Cangzhou Lions and Chengdu Rongcheng were knocked out of the competition one after another, the advancement of Chinese Super League teams is not always stable. The outcome of the match is difficult to determine, especially considering the fact that the strength gap between domestic players is not obvious in the face of the restriction of an all Chinese class. Shandong Taishan, a veteran powerhouse, is on the road today to challenge Dongguan Guanlian, who is ranked 11th in the Central League. The latter's main task at the moment is relegation, so they are not fully prepared for the AFC Cup. In addition, Dongguan Guanlian's chances of advancing against defending champions Shandong Taishan are basically slim.
In the starting lineup, Taishan used a 442 formation with Han Rongze in goal. Jia Desong and Zhao Jian were not center backs. Song Long and Tong Lei were separated on the left and right sides. Liao Lisheng, Li Yuanyi, Zhang Qi and Hu Jinghang formed four midfielders. Huang Zhengyu and 1.91 strikers broke the double striker of Cressan. Dongguan Guanlian was a 352 formation. Goalkeeper Chen Junxu, Yao Xilong, Ulahti and Huang Yuxuan were the three center backs, Huang Chuqi, Zhong Ziqin, Su Shihao, Chen Zhengfeng and Cui Xinglong made up the five midfielders, and Wu Jianfei and Zang Har were the forwards.
When the game started, Taishan quickly dominated the midfield, which not only put pressure on Dongguan United. After the first 15 minutes of testing, Taishan suddenly accelerated and grabbed a high position in front of the field. In the 19th minute, Dongguan United broke free at the back. Jadson helped Kressan break through to create the first record for Taishan and take the lead with one goal. Trailing, Dongguan United started to intensify their offense and the defensive holes increased. In the 40th minute, Taishan got a free kick and Song Long scored inside the box to extend the lead.
In the 42nd minute of the first half, Crescent once again took the lead, receiving a pass from Hu Jinghang and slamming the ball into the goal, ending the first half with a 3-goal lead for Taishan. In the second half, Taishan still attacked strongly, and consequently, Dongguan Guanlian was unable to restrict Cressan, who scored again in the 67th minute with a long-distance shot to complete the hat-trick. Then, Chen Pu and Buyurang scored in the 77th and 87th minutes respectively, while Dongguan Guanlian was brought back to a city by Gong Qiuluo in only the 82nd minute.
In the end, Taishan had a stunning away game, scoring 6 goals in just 70 minutes to beat Dongguan Guanlian 6-1. In their first match as defending champions, Taishan successfully achieved their 11th win in the third round of the Chinese Super League and also progressed to the last 16 of the F.A.C.A. Cup, while realizing a double undefeated streak of 8 matches.
