The Chinese Super League (CSL) is entering the decisive stage of the competition, with the table-leading Shanghai Harbour Team welcoming Shandong Taishan at home, where a win or loss will decide the CSL crown. The match was more dramatic than the 1-1 draw in the first round. The much-anticipated first-round match was a tightly contested affair, with Fellaini's goal being disallowed, sparking a controversy. However, there was no obvious dispute between the players, only Fellaini had a disagreement with the referee and even threw the captain's armband away in anger.
As the duel unfolded again, Shanghai Harbor and Shandong Taishan both felt the pressure, and the players engaged in a fierce battle, with a fiery atmosphere that fully demonstrated the cruelty of a championship battle. Unfortunately, they didn't give their all to the game, which raised a lot of questions. In this duel, Shanghai Seaport clearly has the upper hand, the team's total value is as high as 219 million euros, about 200 million yuan, which is a luxury lineup in the Chinese Super League. Head coach Xavier used a 343 formation, starting 11 players including Wu Lei, Oscar and Cai Huikang. Shandong Taishan, on the other hand, opted for a 4231 formation with 11 starters including Fellaini and Moises.
At the beginning of the match, Shanghai Seaport showed an efficient offense. In the 16th minute, Zhang Linpeng sent an assist to Lv Wenjun, who grabbed a goal in front of the goal and gave Seaport a 1-0 lead. However, in the 34th minute, Wu Lei's shot was disallowed due to a handball foul by Xu Xin. In the 42nd minute, a clash between Lv Wenjun and Chen Pu escalated into a large-scale clash, and the referee showed a yellow card, and Lv Wenjun was sent off for accumulating yellow cards.
Harbour were demoralized and in the 43rd minute, Cai Huikang clashed with Moises and both were red carded. In the 45th minute, Javier was also red-carded for protesting against the referee. In the second half, Shandong Taishan were outnumbered and had a chance to turn the game around. But substitute Fernando was not cool, and in the 75th minute, he was sent off with a red card for retaliating directly after being put down. The game went white-hot, and in the 88th minute, Cressan came close with a long-distance shot, but the goalkeeper made a good save. Shi Ke assisted and Xie Wen parried the goal to equalize the score, 1-1 draw.
Throughout the match, Shanghai Seaport had a dramatic performance, with only 29% possession and trailing Shandong Taishan in both shots and shots on goal. In the end, the match ended in a 1-1 draw as a tenacious battle. Referee Mai Mai Tijiang was the focus of the match, showing 15 cards in total, including 4 yellow and 3 red cards for Seaport and 6 yellow and 2 red cards for Taishan. Despite the out-of-control situation, Shanghai Seaport managed to win the title with a strong 200 million dollar squad, becoming the two-time champions of the Chinese Super League.
