The 34th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) was climaxed at 3:00pm on December 31st, with Meizhou Hakka and Guangzhou, who have been relegated early, in a fierce duel. The match ended with Meizhou Hakka 1-0 Guangzhou after Yang Yihu scored a goal.
A total of 17 U23 players from both sides started the match, including 6 from Meizhou Hakka, 11 from Guangzhou and 7 from the bench. After losing 1-4 to Changchun Yatai in the last round, Guangzhou suffered 4 consecutive defeats, breaking their 20-round unbeaten streak and being relegated in the early round. Meizhou Hakka, on the other hand, beat Guangzhou 3-1 in the first round of the first half.
Highlights of the competition:
In the 9th minute, Meizhou Hakka's Chen Zhechao took a long shot from the outside, but unfortunately it went over the crossbar.
In the 40th minute, Guangzhou's Efirdin was put down on the left side of the breakthrough and was given a chance to take a set piece, but Efirdin, who took the penalty, had his shot blocked by a defender's header.
In the 45th minute, Meizhou Hakka passed the ball from the left side, Li Yuping stopped the ball too big, and Li Junfeng, who followed up, shot vigorously at the goal.
In the 52nd minute, Meizhou Hakka attacked from the right, Zhao Wenzhe was unfortunate to kick the ball onto his own crossbar when he cleared the ball and nearly made a fool of himself.
In the 55th minute, Li Junfeng picked up his first yellow card of the match after he was fouled in midfield while stealing Liu Langzhou.
In the 62nd minute, Guangzhou had a corner kick opportunity and Tan Kaiyuan's header in front of the goal went over the crossbar.
In the 67th minute, Meizhou Hakka made a direct pass from the outside, Liu Ziheng unselfishly passed the ball, and Li Lingfeng faced the empty goal and shot with his left foot.
In the 72nd minute, Guangzhou's long pass over the top from the backfield led to Tan Kaiyuan bursting into the penalty area and hitting the goal post with a left-footed shot.
In the 80th minute, Meizhou Hakka crossed from the right and Yang Yihu's header hit the crossbar and bounced out.
In the 90th minute, Liang Xueming's shot was blocked in the penalty area and Yang Yihu followed up with a shot to make it 1-0 Guangzhou for Meizhou Hakka.
In the end, Meizhou Hakka defeated Guangzhou with a score of 1-0.
The starting lineups for both sides are as follows:
Meizhou Hakka starting lineup: 22-Hou Yu, 54-Liu Ziheng (U23), 2-Junjie Wen, 58-Zhou Guoxin (U23), 15-Chen Zhechao, 48-Li Junfeng (U23), 59-Ye Xinsheng (U23), 29-Ru Zinan, 55-Li Lingfeng (U23)
Substitutes: 8-Liang Xueming, 13-Shi Liang, 17-Yang Yihu, 49-Li Yuping (U23), 52-Deng Zaiquan (U23), 66-Tang Chao (U23), 67-Zhang Hao (U23)
Guangzhou first team: 32-Huo Shenping (U23), 71-Liu Langzhou (U23), 35-Wang Wenxuan (U23), 3-Zhao Wenzhe (U23), 20-Wang Shilong (U23), 34-Hou Yu (U23), 14-Zhang Zili (U23), 40-Tan Kaiyuan (U23)
Substitutes: 19-Zhang Jianzhi (U23), 38-Chen Rijin (U23), 41-Xu Bin (U23), 55-Lv Shihao (U23), 62-Ning Haoxu (U23), 63-Feng Yifan (U23), 66-Li Jiahao (U23)
