Prior to the match, Qingdao West Coast was in second place with 54 points, while Shijiazhuang Kung Fu was in fourth place with 49 points. Since Nanjing City basically withdrew from the overtaking competition due to the previous 0-0 draw with Guangxi Pingguo, Qingdao West Coast will be overtaken two rounds earlier if they beat Shijiazhuang Kungfu. Against this backdrop, the campaign was given significance and even the referee was elevated to international referee Wang Di.
In this battle, Shijiazhuang Kung Fu head coach Zhou Lin was suspended for a red card and missed the live command. Assistant coach An Qi stood next to the pitch and took command on his behalf. Double foreigners Ogbu and Ayovi led the game, with goalkeeper Sui Weijie serving as the field captain. Nan Xiaoheng, An Yi Fei, Zhu Haiwei, Ding Haifeng, Zhang Chenliang, Pan Kui, Huang Wei and You Wenjie were on the pitch at the same time.
Another foreigner, Vinicio, was on the bench, as well as players such as Song Hao Yu, Jia Xiaochen, Sun Le, Zhang Hao and Bu Xin.
Qingdao West Coast head coach Jankovic arranged two other foreigners to start when foreigner Ramirez was injured, namely: Lanier and Wesley; veteran Tian Yong remained as the captain of the field, Chen Zhao played as the goalkeeper, and Ge Zhen, Zhang Xiuwei, Chen Bailiang, Lei Wenjie, Sun Jie, Feng Gang, and Xiaoqiang appeared at the same time.
On the bench, players such as Huang Jiaqiang, Xue Mengtao, Li Kai, Time, and Buerdanjiang are on standby.
At the beginning of the game, Shijiazhuang Kung Fu boldly used their home court advantage to put pressure on Qingdao West Coast. However, Qingdao West Coast's solid defense didn't give them too many shooting opportunities. Of course, Qingdao West Coast's organized offense became a bit weak after Ramirez's injury. As a result, the 0-0 score remained until the end of the half.
In the second half, the match was resumed. Qingdao West Coast, after fending off a new round of attack from Shijiazhuang Kung Fu, also utilized counter-attacks to create threats. In the 65th minute, Zhang Xiuwei had a great chance to shoot from inside the penalty area, but the ball was valiantly parried away by Shijiazhuang goalkeeper Sui Weijie.
As time went by, just when everyone thought the game would end 0-0, in the extra time, turning points kept appearing on the pitch:Firstly, Qingdao West Coast had a chance to shoot continuously, and substitute Abu made a concerted effort to seize the opportunity and shoot hard; then, in the last minute of extra time, Shijiazhuang Kungfu Zhang Chenliang flashed an equalizer! This goal lasted only 1 minute, giving Qingdao West Coast's overtaking joy. This is soccer!
At the end of the tournament, Qingdao West Coast remains in second place with 55 points, while Shijiazhuang Kung Fu has 50 points, overtaking Nanjing City and moving up to third. So far, beyond suspense will continue until the next round.
In the next round, all matches will be held on Saturday, October 28th 14th. :Meanwhile, Shijiazhuang Kung Fu will face promotion rival Dandong Tengyue on the road; Qingdao West Coast will challenge Guangzhou on the road. If Qingdao West Coast can get three points, the suspense of the Super League will end one round earlier.
