What was left of a three-point advantage was instantly wiped out.
On the night of September 16th, in the 25th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) 2023 season, Shanghai Shenhua suffered a 0-3 defeat to Henan, and suffered the predicament of three consecutive matches without a win. The three-point advantage that they had accumulated in the past was wiped out in this night.
On the current table, goal difference shows a rare contrast: Shanghai Harbor leads with 31 points, followed by Shandong Taishan with a goal difference of 26 points. Shanghai Shenhua, in third place, has seen its goal difference plummet to an embarrassing "0".
It is worth noting that behind teams such as Zhejiang, Wuhan Sanzhen, Beijing Guoan, Chengdu Rongcheng, and Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, Shanghai Shenhua's goal difference is: 9, 14, 13, 8, and 5 respectively. This means that among the top eight teams, Shenhua has the lowest goal difference. This is despite the fact that Shenhua remains in third place by virtue of their wins and losses against Zhejiang and Wuhan Sanzhen.
Shanghai Shenhua's low goal difference is mainly attributed to the fact that in previous matches, most of the wins ended with small scores of 1-0; and of the seven matches lost, three were by more than three goals, including a 0-3 defeat against Shandong Taishan, a 0-5 defeat against Shanghai Harbor, and a 0-3 loss to Henan. These three painful losses made it difficult for Shenhua's goal difference to accumulate until it went to zero.
There are five rounds of fixtures left in this season's Chinese Super League. Shanghai Shenhua will face opponents such as Cangzhou Lions, Qingdao Hainiu, Nantong Zhiyun, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Zhejiang. During this period, will Shenhua be able to seize the opportunity to achieve a goal difference against the odds? The answer will be revealed soon.
