Wuhan Sanzhen, the promoted team, has made a name for itself in the field with the strength of its foreigners.
Source: Pescadores
What appears to be an unexpected achievement is logical and self-explanatory.
At the halfway point of the first phase of the Chinese Super League, Wuhan Sanzhen is leading the way with 13 points from four wins and one draw.
The team's performance reminds us of Guangzhou Evergrande 11 years ago - can Wuhan Three Town replicate the "Evergrande Myth" and become a new Chinese soccer legend?
In the Chinese Super League today, does practical foreign aid with a stable local lineup mean a ticket to the championship?
Xie Pengfei cleverly took the penalty and Malcom headed home.
Challenging strong rivals, Wuhan three towns welcome the litmus test
Facing Guangzhou and Wuhan, two teams with very different styles in a row, Shanghai Seaport is facing challenges one after another.
Although the Guangzhou team is no longer in the limelight, the loss is not surprising; however, facing the strength and form of Wuhan three towns at the peak, the test of the seaport has just begun.
During the match, Seaport exposed the deficiencies in defending against overhead kicks, and goals from Malcolm and Renhang put Seaport under tremendous pressure.
Renhang scored a header to show the strength of Wuhan Sanzhen's attacking end.
With less than half time to go, Lecco made a substitution and adjustments that had a significant effect. Feng Jin assisted Ndiaye to pull a goal back in the second half, but Seaport still lost 1-2, with only six points at the halfway point, opening up a seven-point gap with Tri-Town.
Three Town started the season strongly, sweeping Hebei and Guangzhou 4-0 and 6-0 in the two rounds of the tournament. They drew with Shenhua in the third round, but then beat derby rivals Wuhan Changjiang and target champions Seaport in the following two rounds to start the season perfectly.
Ndiaye equalized with a wonderful assist from Feng Jin.
Can Tri-Town blow the title?
The match against Harbour was seen as a litmus test for Three Town's title bid, and it turned out to be as expected, with manager Pedro satisfied with the result.
"The game was very tough and I am very happy with the performance of the players. Harbour showed great strength in the second half and threatened us, but every one of our players put up a good fight."
Leko also admitted that the harbour was in poor form, "The side that played better won the game. At the moment, we are still a long way from the top teams in the Super League."
China Super League (soccer league)
Standings Revealed.
Can Wuhan Sanzhen, be a replica of Evergrande from 11 years ago?
The three towns of Wuhan are, in many ways, strikingly similar to Guangzhou Evergrande, which was just promoted to the Chinese Super League in 2011.
The club is on solid financial footing and signing quality players in the transfer market has become possible.
San Zhen's foreigner lineup is not far behind Evergrande's Mr. 10 million dollar Kong Ka back in the day.
Players signed by Evergrande back in the day have now moved on to the three towns, such as Liu Dianzha, Deng Hanwen, Gao Junyi and He Chao.
The three towns also signed Xie Pengfei, Tao Qianglong and other strength players, the transfer market performance and Evergrande that year as the same.
Wuhan Three Towns, a combination of local and foreign aid.
However, the overall level of Spain's coach, Pedro, remains a question mark as to whether he can match the needs of the title race.
In the third round match against Shenhua, Pedro replaced goal scorer Xie Pengfei and three foreigners in the second half, giving Shenhua the chance to draw the match.
Against Seaport, Pedro's halftime adjustments were again too conservative, replacing Xie Pengfei with back-rower He Chao - the offense was stymied, the Sanzhen defense was in jeopardy, and N'Diaye's goal gave Seaport hope for an equalizer ......
Pedro, the Spanish coach of Three Towns.
It's not impossible for a promoted team to win the championship
In the history of international and domestic soccer, it is extremely rare to see a case like Kaiserslautern winning the top division as a promoted team.
Since 1994, only Guangzhou Evergrande has replicated this myth in 2011.
Judging from the first five rounds of the league season, Wuhan Three Town is not without chances.
Defending champions Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Seaport are both facing their own difficulties.
Taishan's Guo Tianyu stays away, Cressan returns late, and Fellaini is plagued by injuries.
Harbor, on the other hand, is facing the dual difficulties of unsystematic preparation and the inability of foreign aid to return.
Three Town and Harbour have another direct match in Round 10, and Harbour's chances of winning the title will become extremely slim if they lose again.
Leko said that despite the difficulty of winning the title, they will give it their all, "Let's make sure we win first and play every game first."
Pedro, on the other hand, said that the topic of winning the title is not an obsession for the team, "We passed on the soccer philosophy to the players and we are just playing every game. We are new to the Super League and it's too early to think we are one of the top teams, we need to keep our feet on the ground."
With a number of teams facing economic crisis, with excellent foreign aid and stable local lineup, promoted Wuhan Sanzhen can also become the favorite to win the title.
Is this the fortune or misfortune of Chinese soccer?
