This season, Shanghai Seaports presented its peak form since four years, unbeaten in the league, winning five consecutive victories, and the return to the Super League championship podium after five years seems to be within reach.
Nevertheless, Harbour's strong performance this season has caused many fans and media to be skeptical. Since the beginning of the season, it seems that they have been able to get away with a lot of things under the referee's watchful eye. Not only have they accidentally gained some points, but they have also been on the verge of a red card many times.
In the first match against Shenhua, Harbour won a valuable point with a sublime corner kick that allowed Wu Lei to score a goal and a thrilling equalizer. In the three matches against Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, Beijing Guoan and Shandong Taishan, the opponents' four goals were deemed invalid. In the matches against Henan Songshan Longmen and Nantong Zhiyun, Harbour won two victories on three dubious penalties and collected six points.
On the player side, Cai Huikang not only broke Shenhua's Wu Xi's toe bone in a shoveling, but also seriously injured Guoan's Yang Liyu's ankle, but escaped due punishment, not even getting a yellow card. Again in the confrontation with the Jinmen Tigers, Zhang Linliang's shoveling not only destroyed the opponent's counterattack, but also led to the opponent's player's ankle fracture, but such a bad behavior was only shown a yellow card.
It can be said that the Harbour team has taken advantage of the referees in this season's Super League, which is the reason behind their ability to show such a performance. However, the real test lies ahead of them now. This month, Harbour will play in the AFC Champions League play-offs against the Thai Premier League's Pathum League.
The AFC has announced the refereeing information for the match between Seaport and Baton Rouge United, where a team of Bahraini referees will officiate in the crucial clash. Obviously, foreign referees will not give special care to Harbour as Chinese referees do. Without the protection of the referees, it is still unknown whether Seaport can continue to win easily against Baton Rouge in the Chinese Super League format.
In this season, under Spanish coach Javier, the Harbour changed their previous tactics of emphasizing offense over defense to a half-court defense, waiting for their opponents to make mistakes and then counterattacking. This tactic has led to frequent defensive moves by the players and occasional injuries.
Although Harbour's defense is not perfect and they are still being broken down by their opponents in the league, the help of referees and VAR has helped them to turn many a danger into a disaster. In a number of matches against Jinmen Tigers, Guoan and Taishan, four of their opponents' goals were wrongly disallowed.
These situations are afraid to be repeated in the AFC Champions League. After all, referees in other countries have their own enforcement standards and criteria. They will not favor any side like the Chinese Super League referees.
Compared with Pathum United of the Thai Super League, Harbour's strength is clearly superior. They have excellent foreign players such as Oscar and Vargas, and the "Chinese Messi" Wu Lei is in the front line. As a result, Harbour Team won the AFC Champions League qualifier in a landslide. We hope that Harbour will show a really convincing strength in the match, so that those fans who questioned their reliance on referees to win the match will have nothing to say...
