On August 22, the much-anticipated AFC Champions League playoff match, the host Shanghai Seaport team lost 2-3 to Pathum United, a match that attracted a lot of attention. Surprisingly, the Chinese Super League quasi-champion Shanghai Seaport lost to a low-level Thai league team, which created a very shameful record for the Chinese Super League. Shanghai Harbour became the first Chinese Super League team to lose to a Thai team, and the first Chinese Super League team to lose to a Thai team as a Chinese Super League quasi champion.
While Harbour, who are ranked first in the Chinese Super League, are almost all internationals, they suffered a surprising loss to Pathum United, who are ranked sixth in the Thai league for children. Fans also saw international players such as Zhang Linpeng, Jiang Guangtai, Wu Lei, Xu Xin and Yan Junling on the pitch. They felt that the Harbour international players who lost to Thai Premier League's Pathum United were basically the same international players who lost to the Thai national team on New Year's Day. After two years of hard work, these international players of Harbour continue to lose to the Thai team and I really feel that their skills have not improved much in these two years.
When Harbour knocked out a Thai Premier League team that couldn't even name its players in such an embarrassing manner, some suspected Shanghai media questioned the Bahraini refereeing crew's enforcement of the match. The Shanghai media considered the two goals scored by Batang United as offside goals. This evaluation also had a suspected Bahraini referee Mahfouz's unfair enforcement questioned as the Thai team scored three consecutive goals at home. If this scene will certainly not be seen in the Chinese Super League. Next, let's hope that the Harbour team can secure the league title. After all, the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup are both out of the competition, leaving only a league title.
