Top of the Premier League table and bottom of the table. What is the difference between these two teams? Zhejiang's home match against Shanghai Seaport in the seventh round of the 2023 Chinese Super League season fully illustrated this point. A narrow 2-1 win for the visitors doesn't tell us much about the gap between the two sides. The real difference between the two sides lies in the key players who decide the direction of the game - they only need to be smart to change the outcome of the game.
Throughout the game, if you just look at the technical stats after the game, the losing home team would have had a slight advantage. For example, Zhejiang had two more shots on goal than Shanghai, 12% more possession than Shanghai, more passes than the visitors, and a higher pass success rate than the visitors. During the game, Zhejiang was also the main attacking side, and most of the time the harbor was the main defender. Harbour's team is smart because they have a strong power to press you, but they took the initiative to show weakness and counterattacked on defense. It just so happened that Zhejiang was knocked down by two quick counterattacks from Shanghai.
Both of Wu Lei's goals caught Zhejiang off guard. The first goal was a free kick from Baitijiang, which Wu Lei quickly advanced and broke through with the ball. The second goal came when Oscar grabbed the home team's goal in the midfield, quickly advanced and easily fed Wu Lei. It's a very strange phenomenon that Zhejiang can't get a single point at home since the start of the new season. In this game against Shanghai, they were very eager to score and score. However, Shanghai just seized this mentality, calmly defended and took away 3 points with a quick counterattack.
You can't say that Javier's team is much better in terms of overall performance, maybe even not as good as Zhejiang. Being the number one team in the Chinese Super League and the number one team in total salary, even if the others are mediocre, as soon as 1 or 2 stars shine, it's enough to put 3 points in your pocket. Oscar delivered the cake, Wu Lei ate the cake with ease, the process was so happy.
If anything, Wu Lei's first goal, a one-time stop + disk break, showed the temperament and character of a mature star. So Oscar's selfless cakewalk and (below) this exquisite scalpel pass is amazing. Take a closer look at Oscar's pass, with the outside of his foot aiming for Wu Lei's aggressive run, and the easy pass just getting past the defender's pursuit to avoid the keeper's attack. If not for the somewhat low quality of Wu Lei's shot, he would have been up 3-0 otherwise.
It's no exaggeration to say that Shanghai's strength is extraordinary! As long as Oscar + Wu Lei play at most of the levels they did back in the day, it will be hard for today's CSL teams to resist. Once the two play better and better, there will be no other team to win the Super League. It's no exaggeration to say that the Chinese Super League has become "intolerable"! No wonder some fans are calling for an early championship for Shanghai.
In addition to superior strength, more importantly, Shanghai has been in the right place at the right time from time to time, for example, getting favorable penalties in the first few rounds in a row. It is a kind of "soft power" to seemingly die but always manage to escape from life in the end!
Shanghai Port has now overtaken Shanghai Shenhua to top the table, and I'm afraid it will be hard to be driven down. Both teams got 17 points, 4 more than Chengdu Chengdu and Tianjin Jinmenhu. The top four teams are all undefeated for seven rounds. Shanghai is the favorite to win the Chinese Super League, with the only variable being the AFC Champions League, which could be a bit of a distraction once they get into Shanghai, otherwise they are likely to be at the top of the table.
