On the night of December 13th, a much-anticipated Chinese Super League (CSL) championship match came to a close as Guangzhou met Beijing Guoan at their home sports center in Guangzhou University City, only to lose 0-1 in the match. In this crucial battle, Beijing Guoan striker Zhang Yuning broke Guangzhou's goal in the 81st minute with a brilliant header from Gao Tianyi's cross. The Guangzhou team's manager Zheng Zhi, therefore, failed to usher in the coaching career of the "opening red".
Guangzhou skipper Zheng Zhi
With the return of big-name foreigners and several naturalized players, Guangzhou's strength seems to be much lower than before, and this reality is no longer in doubt. For this new generation Guangzhou team led by a young manager, the desire to compete for the championship seems to be out of reach, and it is more realistic to keep the current ranking. Although Guangzhou's players were full of confidence before the game and vowed to rise to the challenge, the performance of the game showed that the former strong style is no longer there.
The rival Beijing Guoan is also facing the same dilemma, despite the return of strong reinforcements such as Augusto and Bieira, the team still had to tighten their belts. In this game, Guoan sent only one foreign aid, Anderson Silva, who was replaced in the 85th minute with a mediocre performance.
Even against such an opponent, Guangzhou could only accept a bitter loss. Wei Shihao, Yan Dinghao and Zhang Xiuwei all had good chances, but their ability to capitalize on their chances leaves a lot to be desired when compared to Paulinho, Gaolat and Ackerson.
The game was choppy, with both teams making mistakes and the pace looking chaotic. Had it not been for Zhang Yuning's brilliant strike at the end of the game, the two teams would probably have ended in a 0-0 draw.
The players' efforts were not in vain as Wei Shihao twice created chances for his teammates and got a one-touch chance himself, but all three shots ended up flying wide. For Guoan, Anderson Silva, who is clearly yet to find his game form, saw his shot at an open goal deflected away by Guangzhou defender Wu Shao Cong.
Wei Shihao (right) has been the highlight of Guangzhou's team
The "Battle of Beijing and Guangdong" was once the signature of the Chinese Super League, with Guangzhou playing host to Shao Jiayi's free-kick strike, and Guoan defeating Guangzhou at Beijing's Gongti Stadium to lift the trophy. Even just a year ago, the two teams played in the semi-finals of the Chinese Super League title race twice: a 0-0 draw and a 3-1 victory for Guangzhou.
In the last season, Guangzhou team has Paulinho and Talisca such as "killer", Guoan also has Augusto, Bieira and Bakambu such as the golden combination, the climax of the two teams to make the fans enjoyable. However, just one year later, the once fiery scene has disappeared, replaced by a bland competition.
For Guangzhou, the win or loss of the game is no longer important, fans would rather see this team with a glorious history finish the season. From this game, we can see that this international team still has a fighting chance, but that's about it.
The dullness of the Beijing-Guangdong battle also reflects the decline of the Chinese Super League. With the departure of expensive foreign aid, teams tend to invest rationally, and I'm afraid that it will be difficult to reproduce those exciting matches. The Chinese super league had tried to cultivate the influence, in the background of the empty field tournaments, seem particularly pale. (For more news and information, please pay attention to yangcheng pai pai.ycwb.com)
