In a tight game, Shenhua penetrated the defense in a more efficient manner, despite not having the best ball possession. They had 17 shots on goal, 10 more than their opponents, and a goal percentage of 6-2. Although the match ended in a 1-1 draw, it was not a true reflection of the offensive capabilities of the two sides, but rather highlighted the unique charm of soccer.
After the match, head coach Wu Jingui highly praised the performance of his players in the locker room, despite the regret of not winning the Shanghai derby. He said that it is not easy to get 4 points in two derby matches, and thanked the players for their hard work and contribution to the wonderful game. Fate showed again in the second half. Shenhua created confusion through a pass from the right road, leading to an own goal by Harbor defender Li Shenyuan, and had it not been for the intervention of the video assistant referee, the score could have been widened to 2-0. However, the slow-motion camera showed that Shenhua's right defender Wang Yi was offside when he received the ball, and the goal was canceled by the referee.
Photo: Yan Junling showed his heroic form in the match. Picture: Yan Junling deflects a one-two from a Shenhua striker before Seaport's first goal was conceded. Shenhua's stand-in striker Liu Ruofan's header hit the post and bounced out, and even Shenhua was awarded a penalty kick, but Zhu Chenjie's shot was parried, and the stand-in's follow-up shot was blocked by Yan Junling's face. Harbour head coach Leko also admitted after the match that Shenhua had several chances to kill the game. He said that the team was lucky, but also have the strength to match the luck, only keep working hard to have good luck. Shenhua missed three "must score" goals and three good chances to extend the score and lock the game. The soccer field is sometimes so wonderful, when you continuously waste chances or can't break through the goal, the opponent may take advantage of a chance to break through the goal without thinking about it. Yan Junling played valiantly in this Shanghai derby and straightened out the challenge. Attacking picturesque, defensive end Yan Junling - even in the seaport team 2018 Chinese Super League championship season, the team's overall quality of defense is not high, mainly relying on offensive limitations, but Yan Junling has always been the most assured fans of the "iron door". In this game, Yan Junling from the first minute into the open state. Harbor team first goal, Shenhua striker Basogo single knife into the shot, but was Yan Junling pounced out. However, due to the harbor team defender Li Ang blocking is not timely, Shenhua winger Zhu Jianrong aiming at the far corner of the shot, Yan Junling even flew to remedy can not prevent the ball against the side netting broken goal. Yan Junling pounced on the Shenhua striker's one-touch shot in the match. Yan Junling made a miraculous double save on a penalty kick. Yan Junling after the game review: "Pouncing on penalties at the time did not think too much, because I and Zhu Chenjie is indeed too familiar, before the national team throughout the 40, 12 strong match each other are very well known, of course, penalties also have a component of luck, Zhu Chenjie in the mentality of the very mature, but pouncing on penalties is still a component of luck." Leko was able to correct his mistakes by self-correcting during the game, eventually collecting a penalty and equalizing the score in the 87th minute. In the final ten minutes, he finally let go of his stubbornness and adjusted his 343 formation to a relatively balanced but never-trained 442 formation. Photo: Leko adjusting his formation during the match. Leko said he had never trained the four-at-the-back formation in previous training sessions, but this forced change helped his team equalize in the final time, and even more so, it helped him pull the poorly-performing Harbour back from the edge of the cliff. In this heated conversation in the Shanghai derby, Leko managed to save his team by self-correcting his mistakes. The change in formation may be a good reminder to the "one-dimensional" Leko. (Onlooker news for ice)
