Wuhan city on Changjiang, subprovincial city and capital of Hubei province
Jinmen Tigers are brave and fierce
The defending champions, who won their third consecutive Chinese Super League (CSL) fixture, beat Wuhan Sanzhen 1-0 away from home thanks to a goal from Beric in the 26th round of CSL action.
The advantage for the visiting Jinmen Tigers is that they have plenty of physical strength. Wuhan Three Town just finished an AFC Champions League match against Urawa Red Diamonds in midweek, ending in a 2-2 draw. Although the fighting spirit and effort shown by Sanzhen's team won many praises, the physical exertion is also an indisputable fact. Therefore, in terms of the starting lineup, Wuhan Sanzhen made a large-scale rotation to face the Jinmen Tigers' four foreign players, but in fact, it was a "homegrown lineup" to face the match. Aziz, Davidson, Xie Pengfei and other strong players are sitting on the bench. This year, the three towns team in the AFC Champions League seems to have more investment.
Starting lineups for the three towns
Jinmen Tigers starting lineup
In the first half, the Zim Tigers, despite their superiority, did not play as well as they should have and created very few chances. In the fifth minute, Rosa attacked the goal, but the passer, Beric, was ruled offside first.
After that, the two sides were in a stalemate. Despite the fact that Jinmen Tigers had 60% of the ball in their possession, the pace of offense and defense was slow, and the scene was a bit dull. Jinmen Tigers did not actually make full use of their advantages in 45 minutes, while Wuhan Sanzhen obviously took a defensive position.
In the second half, Tri-Town were the first to adjust their tactics. Aziz came on and Jinmen Tigers did not make any substitutions but tactically accelerated the tempo. In the 54th minute, Zimmermann Tigers got a corner kick opportunity, and Beric scored with a header.VAR confirmed that the goal was valid. Beric reached his eighth goal of the season, doubling his tally from last season.
After conceding the goal, Tri-Town made a quick adjustment by substituting Davidson, the only remaining foreigner on the pitch, but it was not effective. However, Zimmermann Tigers replaced Merida, continued to create opportunities for Belichick. Unfortunately, Belichick continued the problem of "easy to get, hard to score", missed the opportunity to expand the score. In the 82nd minute, Wang Qiuming shot at high speed, but it was ruled offside.
In the second half extra time, center back Liu Yiming was pushed to the front line as Sanzen launched a final sprint, while Tsimshatsui Tigers retained the precious away three points with their tenacity.
Although Jinmen Tigers scored three goals, two of which were ruled invalid. From the process to the result, Jinmen Tigers realized the anti-climax, but head coach Yu Genwei did not become complacent. He said one of the keys to the win was the physical strength of the Jinmen Tigers. "We prepared for a week, and we were lucky to win the game against a three-tier battle in Sanzhen. But the team needs to face such strong opponents to gain more experience."
After the match, Yu emphasized that winning the game was crucial to maintain the team's league position. "It was a tough game, which we expected before the match. The players performed well and united to achieve the desired result. I would like to thank the players. The team has been under a lot of pressure during this period, including injuries and suspensions. Today's victory means a lot to us. I've said for a long time that in order to maintain the ranking, we have to grab points in the next matches. I hope the players can keep the momentum and form now and play well in the later matches."
2023 Ping An of China Super League Round 27
Chengdu Hibiscus to face Tsimshatsui Tigers
Friday, September 29:35
Tianjin TEDA Football Stadium
