On the night of July 8, the 15th round of the Chinese Super League came to an end with a lot of ups and downs. Beijing Guoan swept Shenzhen 5-0, Wuhan Sanzhen narrowly beat Changchun Yatai 2-1, and Shanghai Harbor drew 1-1 with Dalian. This round of fixtures marked the end of the first half of the season, and the standings of each team gave an initial preview of the intense competition in the second half of the season.
In the "First Tail Dialogue", Shanghai Seaport was once behind, but finally shook hands with Dalian with Li Shenglong's equalizing goal. The loss in Shandong Taishan in the last round and the draw in Dalian this round have very different meanings for Shanghai Seaport. Despite not winning for the second consecutive round, they still hold the lead, but the advantage is narrowing, and on July 12, Shanghai Seaport will face defending champions Wuhan Sanzhen at home, which will be a tough test. In the other match, Shanghai Shenhua beat their rivals 1-0 with a goal from veteran Yu Hanchao to move into second place with 31 points. Next up, Shenhua will host Shandong Taishan in a do-or-die battle for six points, and Shandong Taishan, who lost 0-1 in the first round, will be out for revenge. Chengdu Rongcheng are demoralized after their unbeaten streak was broken. Goalkeeper Zhang Yan's red-card suspension added insult to injury. Chengdu Rongcheng suffered two consecutive defeats after losing 1-3 to Meizhou Hakka on the road. In the next round, they are looking forward to getting back to their winning ways at home. Tianjin Jinmen Tigers drew 1-1 with Nantong Zhiyun thanks to Xie Weijun's stoppage time goal, continuing their undefeated record for 15 rounds. Shandong Taishan, on the other hand, relied on Fellaini's assist to beat Henan 1-0 and move up to fifth place in the table. Beijing Guoan made it two wins in a row after beating Shenzhen 5-0 to move from seventh to sixth. Changchun Yatai, meanwhile, leapfrogged their rivals to seventh after beating them 2-1 in a duel worth six points, with the defending champions seeing their hopes of catching up. However, Changchun Yatai seems to be stuck in a "win-lose-win-lose" loop, and slipped to eighth place after this round of losses. Next, they will face Zhejiang at home, whether they can turn the situation around is worth watching. Although the Zhejiang team has introduced the powerful scorer Leonardo, but recently suffered two consecutive losses, the situation is not optimistic. Cangzhou Lions drew 1-1 with Qingdao Hainiu on the road and are 10th with 17 points, while Henan gained three points from Meizhou Hakka to move up to 11th. Nantong Zhiyun was held to a goalless draw by Tianjin Jinmenhu in stoppage time and finished 13th with one point, while Shenzhen is still 14th with 11 points despite a 0-5 loss to Beijing Guoan and are under huge pressure to be relegated. Qingdao Hainiu and Dalian Ren are in the relegation zone with the same 11 points, and they will face even tougher challenges in the second half of the season. In the just-concluded game, Dalian People snatched 1 point from the leader Shanghai Harbor on the road, which is undoubtedly a reflection of the team's efforts and toughness. In the second half of the season, teams will fight for every point and the competition will be even more intense.
