In the 28th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL), Zhejiang, who are sitting at the top of the season, challenged the resilient Meizhou Hakka on the road, and this matchup became the first highlight of the round. Although Meizhou Hakka is a team from the county, their performance is extremely tough, and they have recently achieved successive successes at home, even after being relegated, the team is still going all out to grab points. Zhejiang, on the other hand, as the dominant team in the second half of the Chinese Super League, has been almost unbeatable and undefeated in the second half of the competition, but its performance in the AFC Champions League is in stark contrast, suffering two consecutive losses in the group stage.
With two teams in hot form in the league recently meeting each other, the intensity of the game was self-evident. Zhejiang head coach Jordy switched to a 4231 formation, with Mu Xiekui as the single arrow, and Evra, Frank and Cheng Jin partnering the three defenders. Qian Jie and Li Tixiang held the double back while Yue Xin, Lucas Porcinolo, Sun Zheng Ao, Dong Yu and Zhao Bo formed a solid defense. Meizhou Hakka coach Milan Ristic also used a 4231 formation, with players such as Cheng Yuelei, Dujalić, Kosovic, Rodrigo Enrique, Konrad and Ye Chugui all featured.
At the beginning of the game, Zhejiang controlled the rhythm, but Meizhou Hakka's defense was very tough, and the goalkeeper Cheng Yuelei was in a heroic state. In the 8th minute, Mu Xiekui's shot was blocked by Cheng Yuelei; in the 39th minute, Mu Xiekui shot again from close range, but was again deflected by Cheng Yuelei. As Zhejiang team missed many good opportunities, Mu Xiekui's shot was not good, the team soon fell into passive. In the 45th +2 minutes of the game, Meizhou Hakka through a rapid counterattack, Konrad one-handed the ball into the far corner, Zhejiang 0-1 behind Meizhou Hakka.
In the second half, Zhejiang's offense did not weaken, but the offensive line led by Mu Xiekui still failed to effectively grasp the opportunity. Until the end of the game, Mu Xiekui completed a key goal in the 90th +8th minute, Evra in a small angle shot hit the back post, Mu Xiekui then completed a wonderful supplement. In the end, Zhejiang drew 1-1 with Meizhou Hakka and avoided a complete loss.
Throughout the game, Zhejiang's possession rate was as high as 68%, the number of shots on goal was 20-14, and the shot rate was 9-6, finally shaking hands with Meizhou Hakka with a score of 1-1. Meizhou Hakka goalkeeper Cheng Yuelei won the highest score of the game with many wonderful saves, scoring 8.5 points, while Zhejiang's Li Tixiang also performed well, scoring 8.1 points.
Despite gaining only one point, Zhejiang temporarily overtook Shanghai Shenhua to return to the top three in the Chinese Super League standings. Currently, Zhejiang is in third place with 49 points, followed by Shandong Taishan with 51 points and Shanghai Shenhua in fourth place with 48 points. According to statistics, Zhejiang's record-breaking performance in the second half of the season saw them climb into the top three with nine wins and four draws from round 16 to round 28. Meizhou Hakka, meanwhile, have also performed well, going undefeated at home for six consecutive matches, with four wins and two draws, and have steadily risen up the table, currently ranking in the top ten of the Chinese Super League with 34 points, and are provisionally in 10th place.
