In the 26th round of Chinese Super League, Shanghai Harbor challenged Chengdu Rongcheng on the road. After a fierce battle, Shanghai Seaport was defeated by Chengdu Rongcheng with a score of 1-2. Head coach Javier faced another disappointment as his tactical layout clearly failed to work. Despite stars such as Wu Lei, Oscar and Vargas in the lineup, their strengths were not fully utilized. The likes of Joao and Pinko on the bench failed to improve the efficiency of the team's forward line. Chengdu Rongcheng, on the other hand, showed strong overall strength and won even with one less player. Gan Chao and Eckerson scored a goal each, while Shanghai Harbor's goal was scored by Pinko on the bench.
Shanghai Harbour used a 433 formation in this match, with Oscar, Wu Lei and Vargas leading the attack line, Xu Xin, Yang Shiyuan and Baiti Jiang in the midfield, Lu Wenjun, Li Ang, Jiang Guangtou and Wang Shenchao forming a four-guard defense, and Yan Junling defending the goal. On the bench were Pinko, Zhang Linmiao, Joao, Li Shenglong and Liu Xiaolong. Seaport's starting lineup still looks old-fashioned, with an average age of 30.7 years old, and the total value of the starting lineup is 17.2 million euros.
Chengdu Rongcheng's starting lineup was also 433, led by Eckerson, Felipe, Andrigo, Gan Chao and Jin You. In the match, Rongcheng had a strong overall performance with a clear home advantage. Only in the 3rd minute, Gan Chao blasted a world wave from outside the penalty area and put the ball into the dead center, leaving Shanghai Seaport 0-1 down. In the 30th minute, Wu Lei had a chance for a one-touch goal, but it was spoiled by Richard's foul. The referee showed a red card and sent Richard off, leaving Chengdu Rongcheng in a situation where they were playing with one man less.
In the 53rd minute of the match, Felipe made a breakthrough to create a foul and the referee awarded a penalty kick, which was converted by Ackerson to make the score 0-2. In the 90th+4th minute of the match, Shanghai Harbour finally broke the deadlock when Oscar scored with an assist from Pinko, but still ended up losing 1-2.
Throughout the game, Shanghai Seaport had 58% of the possession and 12 shots on goal compared to Chengdu Rongcheng's 16 shots, a 2 to 5 shot ratio, but the final result was still a loss. Only Oscar, Vargas and Joao scored more than 7 points in the Harbor team, while Chengdu Rongcheng's Eckerson, Felipe, Andrigo, Jinyou and Gan Chao all scored more than 7 points.
After the loss, Shanghai Seaport suffered a triple blow. First, they lost to Chengdu Rongcheng despite their numerical superiority; second, they were doubled by Rongcheng this season, with Seaport losing 0-1 in the first round of matches; and then, they only won one, drew one, and lost four of their last six matches. According to this trend, Shandong Taishan is expected to win the championship. Currently, Shanghai Seaport is in first place with 56 points, while Taishan is right behind with 58 points. If Seaport loses three more games in the next four rounds, the title could go directly to the other side. Taishan is in good form, undefeated in seven consecutive matches, winning six of them.
