On October 4, Wuhan Sanzhen challenged POSCO on the road in Group J of the AFC Champions League. Aziz scored a goal for Wuhan Sanzhen shortly after the start of the match, however, POSCO counterattacked like a storm and finally won 3-1, Wuhan Sanzhen's first defeat in the AFC Champions League was born. Not only did Wuhan Sanchen suffer a loss in the match, but their star player Xie Pengfei was sent off with a red card for a dangerous shoveling, making the team's prospects of qualifying for the AFC Champions League a worrying one.
The situation was the same as the last round against Urawa Red Diamonds, Wuhan Sanzhen was leading for a while, and Aziz was the first to break the deadlock with a heroic performance. But then, like a maggot on a bone, Pohang Steelers quickly equalized, and the battle with Urawa Red Diamonds followed suit, with two leads and a tie. In the second half, Zekame scored twice to seal the 3-1 victory.
The turning point of the game came in the 40th minute. Pohang Steelers foreign aid player Obertan fell to the ground in pain after Obertan's precise pass. Slow-motion revealed that Xie Pengfei shoveled Obertan from the side and back, and his toe kick unintentionally hit Obertan's ankle, but triggered a VAR video replay. The referee initially showed a yellow card, but after the VAR video alert, a direct red card was shown. Since then, Wuhan City have been playing with one man less for 50 minutes and the defeat is finalized.
This foul by Xie Pengfei is undoubtedly stupid. Obertan was not in the danger zone and the Wuhan Three Town defenders were already standing in front of him. Xie Pengfei only needed to interfere at the right time to ensure that he could not attack easily. If he committed a foul, it would be difficult to get a red card. It's a case of "trying to tackle", and Xie Pengfei's hot-headedness has cost Wuhan Sanzhen dearly.
With this loss, Wuhan City have only accumulated one point in the first two rounds of the AFC Champions League group stage, a far cry from POSCO's six points and Urawa Red Diamonds' four points. Even though Hanoi FC is at the bottom of the table, it is still unknown whether Wuhan Sanzhen can catch up with Pohang and Pohang even if they play Hanoi twice. From this point of view, it is a pity that Wuhan Sanzhen failed to win despite being ahead of Urawa Red Diamonds twice.
