After three years of hibernation, the Super Cup has finally come to the attention of fans as we enter the opening game of the 2023 season. This time, the two sides are the 2022 season's Chinese Super League champions Wuhan Sanzhen and Shandong Taishan's FA Cup winners. The two teams played four games last season, each winning one and drawing one in the league, and in the FA Cup stage, Sanzhen played with a substitute lineup but lost two games to Taishan and managed to advance to the next round. It is worth mentioning that this matchup is also the stage for the reunion of San Zhen's newest addition Wei Shihao with his old master Taishan, making it a major attraction of the tournament.
In terms of starting lineups, both sides fielded their strongest lineups. San Zhen used a 332 attacking formation, with Liu Dianzuo guarding the goal, Liu Yiming and Wallace at center back, Deng Hanwen on the left and right, Stan Qiu and He Chao partnering in the midfield, and Davis, Yakubu and Wei Shihao forming an attacking triangle. Taishan, on the other hand, played in a 343 formation, with Han Rongze guarding the city, Zheng Zheng, Jadason and Shi Ke building up the defense, Moises, Sun Junhao, Ji Xiang and Song Long roaming around in the midfield, and Guo Tianyu, Delgado and Chen Pu on the two flanks.
With the drums beating, both sides quickly started their offense. The three towns three lines of pressure, high press, Taishan back line for a time difficult to form an effective attack. Newcomers Wei Shihao and Xie Pengfei were active on both wings. In the 25th minute, Wei Shihao brought the ball on the left road, broke through the Taishan defense with his speed, and after the bottom line pass, Yakubu quickly arrived and hit a header to break the goal, and Han Rongze reacted too late and lost the first goal.
Trailing, Taishan quickly launched a counterattack, but the positional battle was not a big threat. Sun Junhao's free kick also failed to penetrate the wall. Before the end of the half, Hao Wei replaced Delgado with Sun Guowen. The latter did not perform well and failed to meet the expectations of the coaching staff. While Sanjin's ball possession was close to 60% and their quick counterattacks remained sharp, they went into the break with a one-goal lead.
In the second half, Hao Wei continued to adjust the lineup. Wang Tong replaced Zheng Zheng, and Taishan counterattacked with full force. On the contrary, Sanzhen was not eager to attack, mainly controlling the ball and consuming time. With the decline in physical fitness, the degree of fighting between the two sides was reduced. Taishan was limited by the speed of Yakubu, Wei Shihao and Xie Pengfei, and did not dare to press full force. In the 55th minute, Taishan made another substitution.
In the 81st minute, Liu Dengzuo made a cheap mistake by kicking the ball behind Liu Binbin. The ball came to Sun Guowen's feet and went back to Liu Binbin, who pushed the ball to score. However, according to VAR's decision, Sun Guowen was offside and the goal was invalid. In the 87th minute, Sun Junhao stepped on Davis' ankle while grabbing the ball and was sent off with a red card. In the end, Samchung won their first game of 2023 with two goals and claimed the Super Cup trophy for the first time in the team's history.
