Shortly after the kickoff, at the beginning of the second half, Zhang Lei decisively ruled that Nantong Zhiyun had been awarded a penalty kick for the following reasons
Qingdao Manatee
The goalkeeper of the game, Mou Pengfei, had a physical collision with a Nantong Zhiyun player during a counterattack, causing the other player to fall to the ground. However, slow-motion replay revealed that Mou Pengfei initially touched the ball. Fortunately, Mou Pengfei showed great courage and successfully pounced on the penalty kick taken by Nantong Zhiyun's foreigner Traore.
Given the lack of video assistant referee (VAR) support in the Chinese League, it is understandable that there may have been errors in the referee's judgment at the moment of contact between the two players. But immediately afterward, Zhang Lei's two consecutive penalties once again sparked much debate.
Toward the end of the match, Qingdao Hainiu's former international Zheng Long's precise pass triggered a suspected handball by a Nantong Zhiyun player, and Zhang Lei immediately awarded a penalty kick. However, in the face of Nantong Zhiyun's protests, he changed his decision to award a penalty corner. Slow-motion analysis showed that there was no obvious problem with the original penalty kick. Zhang Lei's hesitant and arbitrary change of judgment is obviously not in line with the professionalism of a good referee.
Looking back at this season's Chinese Super League match between Chengdu Rongcheng and Shenzhen, Zhang Lei's incorrect call led to Chengdu Rongcheng being awarded a non-existent corner kick, which ultimately led to Shenzhen losing points. Although Zhang Lei was penalized internally for this and did not return until the second period, those three points could not be recovered.
Now, Zhang Lei once again appeared similar controversial penalty, it is really regrettable. What's even more puzzling is that Zhang Lei didn't say anything when a Nantong Zhiyun player handballed the ball during an attack by Qingdao Hainiu. This penalty aroused the strong dissatisfaction of Qingdao Hainiu players and fans.
Originally, the key battle between Qingdao Hainiu and Nantong Zhiyun was highly anticipated, and the Football Association specially arranged for Chinese Super League referee Zhang Lei to enforce the law, with the intention of emphasizing the game and guaranteeing the smooth progress of the game. But now it seems that Zhang Lei has not taken up this important task, at least the performance is not good.
