In the 21st round of the Chinese Super League in full swing, Wuhan Sanzhen, the deserved champions of the league, had a thrilling match at home, finally beating the powerful Henan team by 4-2. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing, as what could have been a big win turned into a close one. What could have been a 4-0 win became a thriller with two goals conceded by Wuhan's defense. Goalkeeper Liu Dengzuo, a national team player, faced the opponent's two shots of average quality, but watched the ball fly into the net, exposing Wuhan Sanzhen's lack of goal-line performance.
On the offensive end, Wuhan Sanzhen showed amazing vitality and successfully got rid of the haze of 1-2 loss against Zhejiang in the previous round. Facing the relegated Henan team, Wuhan Sanzhen coach Mr. Gao decisively adjusted his tactics by adopting a 4231 system, recalling Aziz to the starting lineup and partnering him with Xie Pengfei, Yan Dinghao, and Tao Qianglong to form a powerful trident. Stan Qiu, He Chao partner midfield, Jiang Zhipeng, Ren Hang, He Habit, Deng Hanwen partner defender, goalkeeper Liu Dianzha, Malcolm, Davidson, Duan Liuyu, Li Yang, Zhang Xiaobin five substitutes on standby.
Wuhan Sanzhen, playing at home, quickly took the advantage. In the 11th minute of the game, Stanciu skillfully cut inside the left side of the penalty area and shot the ball like an arrow that pierced through the opponent's goal, giving Wuhan Sanzhen a 1-0 lead. In the 53rd minute, Zhong Yihao inserted himself in front of the left rib, received the direct feed from his teammates, faced the empty door, and shot the ball. Although Liu Dengzuo realized the danger, his body's reaction was a little slow, and the ball went into the net, Wuhan Sanzhen drew a 1-1 draw.
In the 56th minute, Aziz seized the opportunity in the confusion of the penalty area and added a direct shot to give Wuhan Sanzhen a 2-1 lead. In the 63rd minute, Denic took a powerful shot near the arc of the penalty area and the ball fell like a rolling melon, Wuhan Sanzhen drew 2-2. In the 79th minute, substitute Golden Boot scorer Malcolm broke the deadlock with a header to give Wuhan Sanzhen a 3-2 lead. In the 89th minute, Davidson counterattacked and sent an assist to Malcolm, Wuhan Sanzhen sealed the 4-2 win.
Throughout the game, Wuhan Sanzhen had 49% possession, 14-10 shot ratio and 7-5 shot to goal ratio. Malcolm's king returned to the field, coming on as a substitute and contributing two key goals, making him the Most Valuable Player of the match. On the table, Wuhan Three Town temporarily moved up to the fifth place, realizing the early season goal of keeping six and fighting for three.
After the game, Mr. Gao said that the victory was not easy to come by, and the team still needs to improve in many aspects, especially the precision of tactics. He hoped to improve the team's performance through constant matches, so that the team could be more proactive in participating in matches, and get rid of the ups and downs of the results, and looked forward to the team's successive victories.
