Chinese Super League playoff: Zhejiang narrowly defeats Qingdao for a head start in the super league
On January 8, Beijing time, Zhejiang beat Qingdao 1-0 with Frank's goal in the first half of the first round of the 2021 season's Chinese Super League (CSL) and Chinese League A (CLA) elevation playoffs, taking the lead in the race for the top spot. There is no doubt that Zhejiang's attacking force showed great power in this game, compared to Qingdao's offense, which was not good enough. If they want to survive the relegation, they will have to face the next round with all their strength.
Although strictly speaking, Qingdao and Zhejiang belong to different levels of the league this season, in terms of strength and recent form, the actual situation of the two teams does not exactly match the league level. In other words, even though they are in a lower league, Zhejiang seems more likely to win the elevation series. This was confirmed from the course of the match. Both in terms of ball possession ratio and attacking threat, Zhejiang's advantage was more obvious, especially the attacking trident of Matthews, Frank and Gaudi, which became the key to win the game. Their joint efforts helped Zhejiang break the deadlock. The three players were still active in the second half, and although they failed to extend their lead, it was only a matter of time before Qingdao conceded again if it wasn't for the heroic saves made by goalkeeper Li Zhizhao.
In contrast, Qingdao's offense is one-dimensional, almost unable to play ground penetration, and can only rely on the middle and long passes of the high-powered. However, both the accuracy of the passes and the performance of the teammates in the middle of the field were unsatisfactory. In addition to the single attacking pattern, Qingdao's offense at least in this game seems to be unavailable. Wang Hao, who has been playing center forward for a long time, had limitations in this position, and Zhou Junchen, who has been feeding him shells, did not perform well either. Ji Snapdragon, who had previously performed well in the relegation group, only came on as a substitute in the second half, while the center of the offense, Alessandrini, simply sat on the bench. Despite the fact that Qingdao formed a siege at the end of the game as Zhejiang's line contracted, the efficiency of the offense could not be guaranteed.
With a one-goal lead, Zhejiang will have a greater strategic initiative in the second round of the play-offs, and will not rule out the possibility that they will be more determined to take a defensive counter-attacking stance against Qingdao. Once they are able to open up the attacking space, Matthews, Gaudi and Frank, who scored this afternoon, will be more threatening, and the tacit understanding between the three of them has already been shown in the game. In addition, do not forget that the Zhejiang team also has the center Mu Xiekui this main card. Due to an injury, Mu Xiekui only played for a short while in today's game, but it is foreseeable that in the next round of the game, Mu Xiekui will get more playing time, and the combination of Zhejiang's attacking group will bring more pressure on Qingdao's defense.
On the contrary, Qingdao's offense is their only way out. If they can't score in four days, they will say goodbye to next season's Chinese Super League. However, offense is not Qingdao's strong point. Although they have a certain physical advantage over Zhejiang, their performance in the first round showed that the side-center coordination was far from being a killer. In terms of personnel, Yang Weijian seems to have a few more tricks up his sleeve, but whether the two foreigners, including Alessandrini and Vukovic, will be able to play in the next round and what their intentions will be are unknown. However, no matter what, Qingdao wants to be relegated, there is no way back, in the composition of personnel and the total score is at a disadvantage, the only thing they can do is to unite as one and take out a fighting stance to deal with the situation, in order to have a ray of hope, or waiting for them may only be relegated to the results. (Bao Wenlong)
