The dusty ancient city of Gusu witnessed the second exciting match of the Super League play-offs yesterday. Dalian People and Chengdu Rongcheng lost 0:1 and 1:2 on aggregate. Zhejiang shook hands with Qingdao and remained undefeated with a score of 0:0, and came out on top with a score of 1:0. Chengdu Rongcheng and Zhejiang successfully surpassed the Super League, while Dalian Ren and Qingdao fell into the Central League.
As the National Football Association (NFA) had imposed heavy fines on Dalian Ren and Chengdu Rongcheng the day before, the match was of great interest. In the first half, both teams missed good opportunities to score. In the second half, Chengdu Rongcheng's foreign aid player Romulo took a shot from outside the penalty area, which was refracted into the net by Danielson's defender, and Dalian Ren's goalkeeper Zhang Chong tried to save the ball, but he was unable to do anything about it. In the end, Dalian People 0:1 defeated Chengdu Rongcheng team, total score 1:2 defeat.
In the other match, Qingdao failed to reverse the 0:1 disadvantage of the first round and drew 0:0 with Zhejiang, despite welcoming back two foreigners, Vukovic and Alessandrini. Qingdao lost 0:1 on aggregate in the two-legged match and returned to the Central League after two seasons.
With the conclusion of the Super League play-offs, the list of teams for the 2022 Chinese Super League season has been finalized. Chengdu Rongcheng and Zhejiang successfully joined the Super League, together with Wuhan Sanzhen and Meizhou Hakka, which were directly promoted to the Super League, there will be four "promoted horses" in the new season, which is a new record for the league in China.
Surprisingly, both Chinese Super League teams ended up losing to Central League One teams in the Super League play-offs. On the one hand, the tight schedule of the Super League has led to the exhaustion of the teams, such as Dalian People's strikers Lin Liangming and Boateng, both of whom are injured, which has affected the strength of the teams. On the other hand, the Central League One teams have invested a lot, both in terms of strength and fighting power, and have the foundation to make it to the Super League.
In 2022, the Chinese Super League will expand to 18 teams and the tournament will be the largest in history. Although Dalian Ren and Qingdao have been relegated, they still have the possibility of being recruited. Currently, the future of teams such as Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic and Hebei is uncertain.
