On the evening of 8th, the first official match of the new season of Chinese professional soccer - Chinese Football Association Super Cup was held in Huanglong Sports Center in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, which also means that the curtain of the new season of Chinese professional soccer has been drawn. It is worth mentioning that Huanglong Sports Center will also be the final venue for the Hangzhou Asian Games soccer tournament. The confrontation between last season's league champion Wuhan Sanzhen and AFC Cup champion Shandong Taishan ended in a 2-0 win for Wuhan Sanzhen, the first time in the team's history.
The significance of this game is not only limited to the local professional league "king of kings" competition, but the Chinese professional soccer in the context of the domestic soccer deep into the anti-corruption storm of a new beginning.
In fact, these two teams are still the favorites to win the Super Bowl in the new season. The Super Cup before this season also gives a glimpse of the basic look of the two teams.
For Wuhan Sanzhen, their biggest change is Malcolm, last season's top scorer, and whether or not newcomer Aziz can fill the void left by him is actually related to Sanzhen's performance in the new season.
On the other hand, compared with last season, Shandong Taishan's foreigners basically remain unchanged. Stability is their advantage, but the aging of the core players is an indisputable fact. Shandong tried to play their power in the second half, but this strategy is more passive compared to Fellaini.
As a result, 10 minutes into the first half, Wuhan Sanzhen broke through the link between two newcomers Wei Shihao and Aziz, with the latter's header. This also defeated Shandong's strategy of maintaining first consumption in the first half.
Of course, for top teams, a one-goal difference is not enough to kill the game. However, just as Hao Wei was about to switch to Fellaini for the counterattack in the second half, Xie Pengfei received a direct pass from Stanciu and broke through the net once again to extend the score to 2-0. This sudden goal pushed Shandong to the cliff.
In the last minute of the game, Liu Dianzha nearly gave Taishan a gift when he missed a kickoff and bounced back into the penalty area on Fellaini's back. However, after the VAR replay, Liu Binbin's powerful shot on goal was blown offside and invalid, which made Taishan completely miss the draw. In the 88th minute, Taishan's foreign aid Sun Junho also got a red card for kicking down Davidson, and the game completely entered garbage time.
From the course of this game, the defending champions Wuhan Sanzhen, who have a good bench thickness in the new season, are still competitive enough, while Shandong Taishan needs to make a better balance between new and old players.
The hosting of the Super Cup also means that China's professional soccer league will be in full swing in the new season. 8 am, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced the schedule for the new season of the Chinese Super League. The opening match will be held on April 15 at the upgraded Beijing Workers Stadium, with the hosts Beijing Guoan and Guangdong Meizhou Hakka.
