On November 27th, the night was low and the clock in Beijing pointed to 18:00 sharp. The drums of war were beating as Shanghai Shenhua challenged Gwangju FC away from home in the fifth round of the East Asian Champions League.
At the beginning of the game, Shenhua team looked incompetent, the attacking end was like a fly on the wall, Malelai was unfortunate to receive a yellow card, there were few chances to shoot, half-time, the two sides to 0-0 each other in a draw.
At the end of the match, Hil Asani came on as a substitute and broke the dull stalemate by breaking through Shenhua's defense in just one minute. Despite Shenhua's all-out counterattack, they were unable to find an effective means of attack.
In the end, Shenhua lost 0-1, becoming the only Chinese Super League team to falter in this round of the elite AFC Champions League.
Gwangju FC faced the match with a 442 formation, with a total starting player value of 4.2 million euros, while Shenhua put out a 4312 formation, with a total starting player value of 6.1 million euros.
The game seemed to be an uneventful one, but there was a hidden secret. Shenhua lost their fighting spirit once they were caught in a passive situation, and relied only on long passes in their offense, which was tactically lacking. In contrast, the referee's performance was noteworthy, and the blame for the loss lies squarely with Shenhua themselves. The core of the team's attack was missing, with no organized attacking players and no direct passes to speak of. After Manafa came on as a substitute, Shenhua's side of the field improved, but overall, as the runner-up in the Chinese Super League, Shenhua's technical and tactical level needs to be improved. The 0-1 loss was a blessing in disguise for them. Meanwhile, Shanghai Harbor and Shandong Taishan both won successfully, leaving Shenhua as the only team in the Super League.
On a statistical level, the two teams appeared to be on equal footing. Gwangju FC controlled 56% of the ball, took 8 shots and put 3 on target, while Shenhua took 6 shots and put only 2 on target.
If Shenhua team wants to transform into a strong team, the first task is to solve the offensive puzzle. You can no longer wait until you fall behind to fight, the offense must form a style and regularity, adhere to the tactical execution. In addition, the foreign aid is not strong enough and needs to be adjusted urgently.
