In the 25th round of the 2023 Chinese Super League season, Shanghai Seaport defeated Changchun Yatai 2-0 at home, a victory that meant a lot to Seaport, who hadn't won for three consecutive rounds. Especially in the AFC Champions League, despite losing 2-3 at home, this defeat directly triggered the fans to question the manager Javier. Nonetheless, Seaport is still the favorite to win the title. Against a slightly weaker Changchun Yatai, Seaport managed to pick up three valuable points.
Observing the whole game, Shanghai Seaport did perform better than Changchun Yatai. Although both sides had nothing to do in the first half, Vargas and Wei Zhen scored in the second half to help Seaport seal the win. The win also highlights the strength of Seaport. The fact that they were able to play at the right level against a weaker opponent is a reflection of their strength. Fans know that despite the fact that Seaport has many super foreigners, they do not have an absolute advantage on the field. On the contrary, Changchun Yatai's offense was quite sharp and created threats many times.
However, we can't ignore Harbor's so-called "championship details". Despite Changchun Yatai's impressive performance, Seaport won the match thanks to the performance of their superb foreigners and the excellent play of quasi-international Wei Zhen. Needless to say, Harbor's dominance in the Chinese Super League is hard to match by other teams. Despite losing on the road, Changchun Yatai did not give up on the game, and they sought opportunities through high-intensity confrontation, a positive attitude that should be appreciated.
Of course, attentive fans will notice that even if Seaport wins this game, Coach Javier should be happy. Because fans who understand this know that Seaport's victory had a lot to do with the abnormal performance of the opponent's players, which is one of the reasons why fans flirted with Yatai's loss. In fact, from the course of the game, Changchun Yatai's effort did not lose to Seaport. Why couldn't they score at the crucial moment?
The main reason is that the performance of Yatai's foreigner Zui has caught the attention of the fans. The player who is regarded as Yatai's best foreigner seemed to be very desperate in this game, but he often appeared in key passes and in front of the goal. He either made mistakes or kicked in the wrong direction. His performance level in the game seemed different than before. As hard and positive as Zuey was, fans who understand should be able to see that he can play better. As a result, fans are calling Zooey a "sleeper" in the harbor. Personally, I don't think it's unreasonable and the fans' jibe is probably just a joke.
As for Vargas, the goal hero of Harbor, as a teammate of Spain's Wu Lei, he also expressed his concern for the team after the game. Vargas said in the post-match interview that his goal helped the team to lead at the most critical moment, which also cheered him up. In addition, he also mentioned that the team has undergone some changes compared to before the break, and everyone's confidence and mentality has fluctuated a bit, but today the team made adjustments, and the score is the best proof. As you can see, Vargas took the win very seriously and believes that the game was positive for the team's development and morale.
As for Harbour's head coach Javier, he was actually a bit happy. As many fans have said, Seaport doesn't deserve to be happy about beating Yatai at home, even with a 2-0 scoreline. On the one hand, Seaport itself has the strength to beat Yatai. On the other hand, Seaport's exit from the Asian Champions League under Javier's leadership is a pain that fans will never forget. How about winning the Chinese Super League? What the fans want is not Harbour's "nest", but Harbour's dignity for Chinese soccer on the international stage. Obviously, Javier's team still needs to improve in this aspect. So, from the fans' point of view
