Fighting resumes after break, fierce battle for Super League spot in Meizhou
After a one-and-a-half-month break, the fourth stage of the China League One tournament rekindled the passion on November 20th. The focus of the battle is concentrated in the Meizhou district, the top six teams, five are here to compete, the two super place is expected to be unveiled in Meizhou. Zhejiang, Hakka, Sanzhen and Rongcheng showed a strong desire to compete, and after beating Kunshan on the night of the 21st, Zhejiang took the lead in firing the first shot at the Super League.
Among the top four teams, Zhejiang was the first to make an appearance, and despite trailing Kunshan by a goal at one point, eventually came back to win 2-1.
The first game of the first three stages of the season, for Zhejiang, was a "curse", even against the then vice-chairman, but also difficult to take all three points. However, in the fourth stage, which is the most difficult, they finally broke the spell.
After the first three stages, Zhejiang ranked third with 58 points, three points away from the direct super zone. Obviously, this ranking does not meet their ambitions. In the fourth stage, for the team that aspires to overtake the Super League, every game is a "decisive battle", therefore, the preparation work is crucial. Although the start time was not finalized until last week, Zhejiang is "going all out" during the preparation.
During the preparation period, Zhejiang played two high-level warm-up matches, one was on November 3 against the national football team. At that time, Zhejiang sent Mu Xiekui, Matthews and Frank three foreign aiders, they created a lot of opportunities in the game, and even took the initiative in the first half, Matthews also broke the deadlock. However, in the second half, Zhejiang rotated and conceded two goals in a row, eventually losing the game.
After that game, Zhejiang returned from Shanghai to the Zhongtai base to play a warm-up game against the U22 national youths who were training there.
In addition to the high level of warm-up games, Zhejiang also carried out a "reinforcement". Last season's captain talk about Yang this season, two surgeries, before the game has not been able to play, now, he followed the rehabilitator for a period of time to recover, but also with the team came to Meizhou, once the recovery situation is ideal, there will be an opportunity to play.
If Tan Yang can play, he will undoubtedly help the team. Last season in the Super League group, Zhejiang relied on his goal to beat Rongcheng 1-0, and this season, Rongcheng is also the favorite to win the Super League.
Despite the meticulous preparations, there is also unfavorable news for Zhejiang, which is that Matthews will miss some matches after suffering an injury in the warm-up match against the national football team.
Matthews joined Zhejiang, quickly integrated into the team, to help Mu Xiekui share the pressure of the attack. With this absence, manager Jordy had to face the problem of the team's attacking power all over again.
Facing Kunshan, Jordy is confident despite not having Mathews, "Mathews is a good player who can boost the team's offense, and now he is working hard on his recovery. In his absence, we will have other players to take his place and the team is ready for that."
During the game, Jordy made a big change in formation and got good results on offense. Despite conceding the first goal in the 14th minute, Gu Bin and Wang Jiao scored two goals in the 23rd and 33rd minutes to help Zhejiang complete the reversal.
Jordy was very pleased with the comeback win and after the game, he attributed the success to the positive attitude of the whole team, "The players played with a lot of energy and in the end, we earned the 3 points."
It is worth mentioning that, in the absence of Matthews, Frank had an eye-catching performance, and Jordy praised him after the game, "This game, Frank's performance was excellent, his last pass was outstanding, in fact, he also had the opportunity to score, unfortunately, he did not grasp it."
Frank finding his way back into the game is undoubtedly good news for Zhejiang.
