Despite Taishan's double-height lineup in the second half to launch a fierce attack on Guangzhou City, Guo Tianyu and Fellaini repeatedly missed headers and failed to score, eventually shaking hands with Guangzhou City with a score of 0-0. This result reveals to a certain extent that Taishan's high-altitude tactics have been recognized by their opponents, and after targeted defense, it will be significantly more difficult to score in the future. With the intensive schedule, Taishan's deep bench strength is especially crucial. Observing the whole game, solving the offensive problems has become the key to Taishan's championship this season.
In the first match of the league resumption, Coach Hao Wei basically followed the previous starting lineup, only Fellaini was placed on the bench. Leonardo gradually found his form during the break, sharing the wings with Wu Xinghan, while Guo Tianyu played as a center forward. The midfield consisted of Xu Xin, Sun Junhao and Jin Jingdao. In the back line, Wang Tong replaced Ji Xiang on the right, Zheng Zheng and Shi Ke partnered in the center back, and Song Long guarded the left. From the point of view of the starting lineup, Hao Wei still adhere to the offensive strategy, three midfielders are able to attack and defend, both to organize the attack, but also to reduce the pressure on the back line.
Guangzhou City was originally known for their offense, but faced with Taishan in this game, they adopted the strategy of contracting defense, especially for Taishan's high center tactics, they did not hesitate to defend with two defenders in a pack. This tactic did play a certain effect, but also led to Guangzhou City lost the initiative on the field. Taishan firmly controlled the rhythm of the game, and even if they lost the ball in the positional battle, they were able to quickly counter-attack and destroy the opponent's counter-attack. However, due to Guangzhou City's overly dense defense in the penalty area, all the threatening shots came from Xu Xin's long-distance shots. Leonardo had a chance to break through with a corner kick in the first half, but VAR ruled that he had committed a handball foul first.
In the second half, Taishan replaced Fellaini shortly after the start of the match to strengthen the high point in the penalty area, a change that made Taishan's attack faster and increased the number of header chances in the penalty area. However, due to the hot weather, both teams consumed more, Taishan Guo Tianyu and Fellaini failed to convert many header chances into scores. Although Guangzhou City once utilized the individual ability of foreign players to pose a threat to Taishan, the overall offensive momentum was obviously not as strong as before. Coach Hao Wei sent in international players such as Liu Binbin and Artemisia Junmin in the final stage of the game, but the game still ended 0-0.
Affected by the FIFA virus, Taishan's squad of seven internationals and three powerful foreigners failed to win against Guangzhou City. Leonardo had a controversial goal ruled out, and his overall performance was moderate. South Korean international Son Jungho returned from the World Cup in declining form, and his performance was mediocre. In contrast, captain Kim Kyung Do played better, but also made a few puzzling passes. The two debutants did not create a great offense for their team in the first half. Substitute internationals Ji Xiang, Liu Binbin and Artemisia Junmin also performed only moderately well. This may have something to do with the Taishan team's high altitude advantage.
If Guo Tianyu was unable to get much of a shot on goal in the first half, Fellaini came on in the second half to share the pressure for him, allowing Guo Tianyu to have more space. However, even though Fellaini and Guo Tianyu had at least five excellent header chances, none of them were able to score. Compared to last season and even before the break, Taishan's power of headers has dropped significantly. This may have something to do with Guangzhou City's intensive defense in the penalty area, but if opponents follow suit, this form of Taishan's team to deal with the upcoming matches will be worrisome.
With Leonardo's limited individual ability to solve the game on his own, Taishan's offense relied more on the overhead advantage of Guo Tianyu and Fellaini. However, almost all teams in the Chinese Super League nowadays clearly recognize this advantage of Taishan's team, and Guangzhou City did a very good job of targeting their defense in this game. Under the opponent's intensive defense, Taishan's high-altitude bombardment did not bear fruit, and worse still, the combination of Leonardo and Guo Tianyu in the first half was not as effective as the double-high combination in the second half, which posed a difficult problem for Taishan on how to score.
The Chinese Super League has been fragmented this season due to the impact of the World Cup, and the major giants have cut back to cope with the league's cold winter. The relatively stable Taishan team had a good opportunity to compete for the title, however, after the league resumed it started with a 0-0 draw. This undoubtedly gave Coach Hao Wei a wake-up call that in order to make a breakthrough, the offense must be solved.
