At 19:35 on May 28, the 10th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) ushered in a major battle: Shanghai Shenhua, which had recently chanted the slogan of winning the championship, hosted Henan.
In the pre-match Chinese Super League standings, Shanghai Shenhua ranked third with five wins, three draws and one loss for 18 points in nine matches, five points behind Shanghai Port, two points behind Chengdu Rongcheng, only one point ahead of fourth Changchun Yatai and three points ahead of the fifth Tianjinmen Tiger.
Shanghai Shenhua can go up and down at the moment. If they win this round, they will reclaim second place with 21 points and continue to push leader Shanghai Port. A draw or loss could see them drop out of the top three.
Henan has not strengthened its squad, its former coach has gone to Shanghai Port, and its budget has dropped dramatically, so it may have to be relegated this season. Currently, with 7 points from 9 games, 1 win, 4 draws and 4 losses, they are 14th in the CSL table, only 1 point ahead of Dalian Ren, Nantong Zhiyun in the relegation zone.
Let's take a look at the starting lineups for both sides.
Shanghai Shenhua started with a 4231 formation with center forward Malelai, forwards Jaehan Chao, Teixeira, Xu Hoyang, double midfielders Wang Haijian and Amadou, four defenders Wen Jiabao, Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Shenglong and Eddie, and goalkeeper Bao Yaxiong. The total value of the starting 11 is 6.55 million euros.
Henan started with a 442 formation, with Huang Zichang and Feng Bo Yuan partnering the front line, midfielders Zhong Yihao, Diliyimiti, Kovic, Li Songyi, four defenders Ke Zhao, Liu Jiahui, Gu Cao, Luo Xin, and goalkeeper Wang Guoming. The starting 11 is worth a total of 2.375 million euros.
The game started with both sides attacking and defending each other. In the second minute, Xu Hao Yang took a long shot from the top of the arc, which was confiscated by Wang Guoming. In the fourth minute, Kovic made a great pass to Zhong Yihao, which was put over the crossbar by Bao Yaxiong. In the fifth minute, Huang Zichang's header was parried by Bao Yaxiong, and Li Songyi made up for it, hitting it high.
In the 20th minute, Henan made a passive substitution adjustment, Huang Zichang was injured and Gao Tianyi came on as a substitute.
In the 26th minute, Henan took a corner kick from the left side, Zhong Yihao drove it to the penalty area and Kovic scored with a header. Henan 1 game away from home. : 0 lead Shanghai Shenhua.
In the 39th minute, Zhong Yi Hao crossed the ball from the left and Bao Yaxiong took the ball.
In first half stoppage time, Yu Hanchao took a long shot from outside the penalty area and refracted it into the goal, but the referee signaled offside interference by Malelai and the goal was disallowed.
In the 81st minute, Cao Yunding passed diagonally to the penalty area in front of the field, Wang Guoming misjudged his attack and Jiang Shenglong pushed the ball into the empty goal. Shanghai Shenhua equalized the score to 1:1. With this goal, Shanghai Shenhua also avoided the embarrassment of losing to a relegation team at home.
But so far, Shenhua up and down should have sobered up: to win the title, the strength is not enough, the time is not ripe.
After the campaign, Shanghai Shenhua remained third in the Chinese Super League standings with 19 points from 10 matches, five wins, four draws and one loss. One round behind Shanghai Harbor by 4 points and ahead of fifth Changchun Yatai by 2 points. If Changchun Yatai beat Shanghai Port at home in this round, Shanghai Shenhua will drop out of the top three, although it is unlikely.
In the sixth round, Shanghai Shenhua opened a five-win, one-draw lead after defeating Shenzhen on the road in 3: 1. The only draw was against Shanghai Harbor, when Wu Jingui also drifted a bit. In the last four rounds, Shanghai Shenhua returned to the position.
