On November 30th, Zhejiang was hit by a cold wave and the temperature dropped significantly. Under the extreme weather of snow and ice, Zhejiang welcomed the 28th round of the Chinese Super League: a home match against Beijing Guoan.
Beijing Guoan has suffered a huge controversy recently. In the FA Cup match against Chinese Championship side Jingchuan Wenhui, he drew with his opponents for 90 minutes before losing in a penalty shootout. The fact that both sides drew in an all-Chinese match is a good indication that the standard of Chinese players is not too far apart. Even if you have a lot of international ex-internationals but you can't win, it shows that the level of the team is a question mark.
The FA Cup naturally caused jeers from fans. Some of our media released an article stating that Guoan had complained to the FA, which meant that the Jingchuan Wenhui team was not a neutral name, and asked for a change in the verdict. This was clearly a made up story to get traffic, something the Guiao music department were unable to do. Sadly, there are a lot of people who believe this.
In addition to us in the media, many rival fans on and off the pitch disrupted the players by shouting Jingchuan Wenhui. Writing slogans and shouting slogans, often on the pitch, which affects the players to a certain extent.
However, Guoan team performed normally in the league. In the 26th round, Guoan defeated Guangzhou City 2-1. In the 27th round, Guoan won Shanghai Shenhua with the same score. Although Shanghai Shenhua was affected by the storm of wage arrears and their fighting power was slightly reduced, their overall strength was still good. In the match, Shenhua scored the first goal. In the second half, Zhang Xizhe shot vigorously at the goal and Zhang Yuning took a wonderful shot. The two generals helped Guoan to reverse the Beijing-Shanghai battle.
Objectively speaking, the national team still has some foreign strength, with high hopes for Adeben Lo, Kang Sang-woo, and Memishevich. However, the overall performance was average due to other factors. Kang Xiangyou failed to make the Korean national team, and Memishevich was a bit worse than Hebei. Adebenelo also failed to play the role of a hitman. This also led to the team's good and bad performances. Three losses in a row, three losses in a row, eight unbeaten games in a row. Not the FA Cup, the Nationals have won six and lost one of their last seven league matches, which is incredibly efficient. In terms of points ranking, Guoan has quietly climbed to fifth place in the table, sharing points with Zhejiang and Shanghai Port. Those three teams join Chengdu Chengdu and Henan Songshan Longmen in third place.
Looking at the last nine rounds of the schedule, Beijing Guoan's opponents are generally ranked. In addition to Zhejiang, Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Port, the other teams are basically middle and lower ranked teams. From the perspective of recent form, as long as playing normally, Guoan's hope of competing for the third place is relatively large.
Zhejiang's schedule is similar. Besides Guoan, there are Shanghai Shenhua, Chengdu Rongcheng and Meizhou Hakka. These four teams Zhejiang played to a draw in the first round. In addition, there are the leaders of Wuhan Sanzhen. Although Zhejiang won in the first round, Wuhan Three Town surely don't want to plant another heel in Zhejiang in order to win the championship. It's a tough game for both sides, and it won't be easy to win.
Of course, for Zhejiang, the most important thing at the moment is to win against Beijing Guoan to secure the lead. In the other match, Shanghai Port will face Henan Songshan Longmen, who are currently in a very difficult form. Therefore, if they beat Beijing Guoan, Zhejiang will finish third. Third place in the league is getting closer and closer to reality.
The Zhejiang team is currently in high morale.
In the match against Shanghai, Zhejiang beat their opponent 2-1 when Zhang Jiaqi was sent off, which was unexpected. With one man less, the players were more active than before. Mu Xiekui, Evolo played a huge role. Cheng Jin's curling and attacking was just right, and Evolo scored a huge achievement by relying on his defenders to score in an extremely difficult situation. Jordy was also smiling after the game and the players were very happy. Games like this are a huge asset to the team.
In the final round of the tournament, Zhejiang beat Hebei 6-1 in what could be considered a bloody battle. Of course, scoring six goals isn't much for a lesser fighting opponent. The victory was also deserved. However, Zhejiang conceded one goal in a game that still requires vigilance. Hebei made three passes and passed the ball to the front of the penalty area, and the backline was practically futile. Zhang Wei and Gao Huaze entered no man's land and scored easily. This is worse.
Greentown veteran Gao Huazhe broke through the old main gate in a surprising move. And Zhang Wei hit the crossbar in a game where Zhejiang had almost no defense. Judging from these situations, Zhejiang has a lot of room for improvement in their defense. That's how it is against weaker teams, so what about stronger teams? If you don't pay attention to the details, it can affect the big picture.
Therefore, Zhejiang's backline is crucial in this round of match against Beijing Guoan. Compared to the strongest teams in the Chinese Super League, Zhejiang's defense has conceded 25 goals, ranking in the top four, 21 goals behind Shanghai Seaport and Shandong Taishan, and 22 goals behind Wuhan Sanzhen. It's obviously a bit of a small gap. We must remain vigilant. And Beijing Guoan's offense is particularly strong, Zhejiang team is difficult to defend.
Zhejiang drew 2-2 on the road in the first round.
It was a game of ups and downs. Zhejiang scored first by Frank and Zhang Yuning equalized. In the second half, Guoan's foreigner Dablo hit the crossbar, then Zhang Yuning scored another goal to put the game beyond the reach of the visitors. In the last minute, Mu Xiekui was put down in the penalty area. After the referee watched var penalty kicks, Matthews slotted home the spot kick.
From the course of the game, Zhejiang's possession, shots and shots on goal slightly prevailed, indicating that Zhejiang's control was still good. However, the result of the game was a tie between the two sides, indicating that Zhejiang team needs to improve the ability of clinical goal. Shooting is more important, shooting is more important. Of course, in general, the number of goals scored by Zhejiang team is still relatively objective. So far this season, Zhejiang scored 50 goals in 27 rounds, only behind Wuhan Sanzhen 77 goals, and Shandong Taishan 66 goals is basically the same.
In fact, what Zhejiang lacks is the ability to finish. The league has reached the 27th round, Zhejiang has played 10 draws, tied with Changchun Yatai and Cangzhou Lions. This excessive number of draws shows that the team's determination to win is not strong enough to work out the temperament of a strong team. The initial plan was to accomplish the top ten goals, playing in the upper mid-table and recently ranking in the top six.
In the third round of the World Cup, the Iranians wanted to keep the tie, but they were broken by a beautiful country. So did it keep the draw, or did it affect the victory?
This requires the club to reposition itself. It's not about making players feel afloat, it's about finding a way forward. And the game, or treating themselves as the underdogs, one game at a time.
Never shrink from a cold snap. The veterans are coming on strong and don't need to be polite on the field.
Zhejiang team, punch punch punch!
