On December 18, 2022, a thrilling 1/8 knockout round of the FA Cup came to an end as amateur team Jingchuan Wenhui was reversed by China's second division champions Jinan Xingzhou in a thrilling battle that ended with a 2-3 scoreline. Despite being down by two goals, the "dark horse" Jingchuan Wenhui showed a strong fighting spirit.
Jinan Xingzhou took a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute when Cheng Yuan broke the deadlock. However, Jingchuan Wenhui didn't get discouraged and in the 40th minute, a goalkeeping error led to another breakthrough by Chengyuan to extend the lead to 2-0.
Midway through the season, Jingchuan Wenhui ranked 14th in the league, while Jinan Xingzhou stormed into the first division as champions of the second division. Despite the obvious difference in strength, Jingchuan Wenhui still fought hard. In the first half of injury time, Guo Hongtao took advantage of the opponent's mistake to equalize the score to 1:2.
In the second half, Jinan Xingzhou team added another city, Baihe Ramu received a teammate's pass, in front of the goal clever pad shot, the score became 3:1. Jingchuan Wenhui team did not give up, in the 74th minute, Jiang Lei took advantage of the free kick opportunity to equalize the score to 3:2.
Jinan Xingzhou head coach Tang Jing said that after winning the match, his team will seriously prepare for the next round of Chinese Super League teams. He said, "The game was very intense and both sides fought fiercely. We will seriously summarize when we go back and do our best to prepare for the next round."
Tang Jing also expressed his dissatisfaction with the two goals conceded, believing that the early goals affected the team's mentality. Speaking about the next round of Super League teams, he said, "Let's prepare positively for the schedule set by the FA, the whole season is long, but we still have to prepare seriously."
The captain of Jingchuan Wenhui said he was satisfied with a top 16 finish in the FA Cup despite not going further. He said: "Congratulations to Jinan Xingzhou, we mainly came to exercise and learn. It's not easy to play at this stage and I thank the CFA for providing us with this opportunity. All the players worked hard and we are very happy with the FA Cup."
