On November 30th in Zhejiang, the cold winds and plummeting temperatures ushered in a crucial battle in the 28th round of the Chinese Super League: Zhejiang hosted Beijing Guoan.
Recently, Beijing Guoan was caught in the whirlpool of public opinion. In the FA Cup match against Jingchuan Wenhui, both sides drew in 90 minutes, and China An unfortunately lost in the penalty shootout. This draw showed the comparable strength of Chinese players in a match of all Chinese players. Even with many international players, the team failed to win, and it raises questions about the overall level of the team.
The controversial incident in the FA Cup naturally sparked banter among fans. There was media speculation that Guoan had complained to the FA that the name of the Jingchuan Wenhui team was unneutral and asked for a reversal of the decision, which was obviously a news story fabricated to attract attention, and no such action was taken by Guoan officials. Unfortunately, a large number of people are still convinced by this.
Apart from the media, there were also many rival fans inside and outside the stadium chanting "Jingchuan Wenhui" in an attempt to disturb the players. The effect of the slogans on the players cannot be ignored.
Nevertheless, Guoan's performance in the league was quite stable. In the 26th round, Guoan beat Guangzhou City 2-1; in the 27th round, they beat Shanghai Shenhua with the same score. Even though Shenhua's strength has declined due to wage arrears, their overall strength is still not to be underestimated. In the match, Zhang Xizhe and Zhang Yuning's goals helped Guoan to reverse the Beijing-Shanghai battle.
Guoan team has Adeben Lo, Kang Xiangyou, Memishevich and other power foreign aid, but by other factors, the overall performance is average. Kang Xiangyou failed to be selected for the Korean national team, Memishevich was a line away from the Hebei team, and Adebenelo failed to play a killer role at key moments. This resulted in an up-and-down record, with three consecutive losses followed by eight undefeated matches, and a surprisingly efficient six wins and one loss in seven league matches after the FA Cup. On the table, Guoan quietly climbed to fifth place, sharing the points with Zhejiang and Shanghai Port, which occupy the third position along with Chengdu Rongcheng and Henan Songshan Longmen.
From the last nine rounds of the schedule, Guoan's opponents are mostly middle and lower-tier teams, in addition to Zhejiang, Shandong Taishan, Shanghai port, the rest of the team's strength is average. As long as you keep playing normally, Guoan's hope for the third place is quite big.
Zhejiang's schedule is equally tough. In addition to Guoan, there are strong rivals such as Shanghai Shenhua, Chengdu Rongcheng and Meizhou Hakka, plus leader Wuhan Sanzhen, Zhejiang will have to overcome a lot of difficulties to win the title.
Zhejiang's primary goal now is to beat Beijing Guoan and consolidate their lead. Shanghai Port are in a worrying form as they play against Henan Songshan Longmen. If they can beat Guoan, Zhejiang is expected to finish third, with the third place in the league getting closer to them.
The Zhejiang team is in high morale.
In a surprise match against Shanghai, Zhejiang won 2-1 despite Zhang Jiaqi being sent off. Mu Xiekui and Evolo were outstanding, Cheng Jin's curling and attacking was just right, and Evolo relied on his defenders to score in adversity, earning his team a valuable victory. Jordy smiled after the game as the players' morale was high. The game was a huge asset to the team.
In the final round of the tournament, Zhejiang thrashed Hebei 6-1, and despite a weaker opponent, the goal conceding situation still needs to cause alarm. Three passes from Hebei sent the ball to the front of the penalty area, and Zhejiang's backline looked a little out of sorts. Gao Huaze and Zhang Wei's goals exposed Zhejiang's deficiencies in defense.
Gao Huazhe broke through the old home team's defense, making a bright spot, while Zhang Wei's shot hit the crossbar, highlighting the holes in Zhejiang's defense. This is still the case for the weaker teams, but if you don't pay attention to the details for the stronger teams, the consequences are unimaginable.
Therefore, the role of Zhejiang's backline is crucial in this match against Beijing Guoan. Compared with the strongest teams in the Chinese Super League, Zhejiang's defense line has conceded 25 goals, ranking fourth, only behind Shanghai Harbor and Shandong Taishan with 21 goals, and Wuhan Sanzhen with 22 goals. This shows that the team still has room for improvement. Facing the powerful attacking Guoan team, Zhejiang must remain vigilant.
The first round away match against Guoan was a 2-2 draw.
It was an exciting match. Zhejiang scored first with a goal from Frank and Zhang Yuning equalized. In the second half, Guoan's foreigner Daburo hit the crossbar and Zhang Yuning scored another goal to put the game back in front. Towards the end of the game, Mu Xiekui was brought down in the penalty area, and after the referee watched the var, Matthews converted the penalty.
From the course of the game, Zhejiang's possession rate, number of shots and shots on goal slightly dominated, indicating that the team's control was good. However, the final result was even, which also reflects that Zhejiang team needs to improve the ability of the goal kick. Shot on goal is the key, shot on goal is the key. Overall, the number of goals scored by Zhejiang is quite objective. So far this season, Zhejiang scored 50 goals in 27 rounds of matches, only 77 goals behind Wuhan Sanzhen, and 66 goals equal to Shandong Taishan.
In fact, what Zhejiang team lacks is the ability to finish. In the 27th round of the league, Zhejiang has played 10 draws, tied for first place with Changchun Yatai and Cangzhou Lions. The high draw rate shows that the team's desire to win is not strong enough and it has not yet developed the temperament of a strong team. The ten major goals set initially now seem to have been largely achieved by entering the top six.
In the third round of the World Cup, Iran tried to keep the tie alive, but it was eventually broken by a brilliant goal. So will the draw continue, or will it affect a victory?
It requires the club to re-examine its position, not to make the players complacent, but to find a way forward. The games still have to be fought as underdogs, one game at a time.
Cold wave is coming, Zhejiang team must not retreat. The veterans have a lot of energy, and there is no need to be polite on the field.
Zhejiang team, go forward!
