Chengdu Rongcheng has risen to prominence at an astonishing rate this season, finishing in the top three of the table in a league full of strong teams such as Shandong Taishan, Beijing Guoan and Wuhan Sanzhen. However, Chengdu Rongcheng has recently hit a low point, with a serious injury to core player Romulo leading to two consecutive defeats. In the 16th round, Chengdu Rongcheng defeated Henan, finally stopping the decline and returning to the title contention. Currently, they are ranked third in the Chinese Super League with 30 points, only 4 points behind Shanghai Harbor, who is at the top of the table.
In the second half, Chengdu Rongcheng showed a strong lineup and tactical adjustments. On the one hand, they strengthened lineup rotation to avoid over-reliance on a single lineup; on the other hand, they actively introduced new players to fill the vacancy left by Romulo's injury and solidify the five-foreigner system. In the 16th round, Coach Xu Zhengyuan adjusted the starting lineup, with Eckerson, Felipe and Palacios forming a trident, Tang Xin, Zhou Dingyang, Feng Zhuoyi and Tang Miao partnering in the midfield, Liu Tao, Wendy Bichler and Yang Yiming partnering in the backline, and goalkeeper Geng Xiaofeng guarding the goal. Mutalifu, Hu Hotao, Hu Ruibao, Dong Yanfeng, Tang Chuang five substitutes standby.
Chengdu Rongcheng made substitutions in the first half. In the 27th minute, Eckerson was replaced by Mutalifu due to an injury, and the two sides maintained a 0-0 draw until the end of the half. In the second half, Chengdu Rongcheng started to attack. In the 51st minute, Tang Miao sent out a set piece in front of the goal, Zhou Dingyang grabbed the header and broke the goal, Chengdu Rongcheng 1-0 lead. In the 68th minute, the national youth scorer Wang Mutalifu played bravely and assisted Tang Xin to break the goal with a header, Chengdu Rongcheng locked the victory 2-0.
Chengdu Rongcheng controlled only 45% of the ball, but the offense was on fire, collecting 4 goals from 17 shots; Henan had only 6 shots on goal and nothing to show for it. Tang Miao was the highlight of the game, contributing 6 key passes and 1 assist, scoring 7.5 points to get the highest score of the game. Tang Xin and Zhou Dingyang followed with 7.0 and 7.2 points respectively.
After the match, Chengdu Rongcheng head coach Xu Zhengyuan attended the press conference. He admitted that the game was extremely tough and the team was in a period of fatigue. Nonetheless, he highly praised the team's performance, saying that they showed the spirit of unity and the desire to win. Coach Xu hopes that the team will maintain this form and make a difference in the upcoming matches. He said that in order to stay in the title race, Chengdu Rongcheng needs to target reinforcements and rotate the lineup to ease player fatigue.
