China Super League (soccer league)
The 18th round of the title fight went on as promised, with Beijing
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It was a fierce battle with Shenzhen to a 2-2 draw.
Post-game.
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Manager Bilic commented, "It was a great match with a lot of competition. Despite four goals each and a red card each, it was a fairly open 9 v 9 confrontation and a point each was a reasonable score. Although I think we should have won, I've conveyed to the players in the dressing room that there was nothing wrong with the game itself, the players did a great job. The real problem was the game three days ago, and the key is the spirit and mentality. In terms of strength on paper, Shenzhen is a strong team and I would like to congratulate them."
Talking about Zhang Yuning's performance, Bilic said, "Since I came to the team, I have already witnessed Zhang Yuning's growth. He has grown from a promising player to a mature player, one of the best strikers in China. I like him a lot. Today Yu Dabao was injured and the other captains were away, so I made him captain, even though some of the players may not feel they can take on this responsibility. I think Zhang Yuning is suitable for the captaincy and he is ready for it."
Regarding his exchange with Li Lei on the sidelines in the second half, Bilic explained, "The opponent's bench was strong and some players don't often play in the starting lineup, so our players looked more tired in the second half. Especially in the second half, they stretched our formation and it was more difficult for us to arrange passes, so I asked our wing-backs to go out wide."
Bilic believes the team has come out of the shadow of the crushing defeat three days ago. "The scoreline was reasonable and the game was quite exciting. The only regret was the last goal conceded, if we could have capitalized on the counter-attack and scored another goal, then the game would have been more perfect. Looking back, we were 1-0 up at one point and they got a red card, Jin Pengxiang is too young to be provoked by the opponent, and this kind of mistake is too easy. Shouldn't have made that mistake. Simply put, I asked the players to react immediately after the 5-0 defeat three days ago and the feedback they gave was very positive and I'm happy with it."
