China Premier League (CPL)
The first phase of the game came to an end, and with 3 wins and 2 draws, the Taishan team tied for the top of the table with the Harbor Team. The team's performance has been outstanding, even with two foreign players not yet back in the team, which was not possible without the excellent play of the five new players.
This season, Taishan brought in five new players, including Sun Junho and Leonardo, two foreigners and three internal players. Sun Junhao and Leonardo are from the Asian League, while internal reinforcements Ji Xiang, Shi Ke and Xu Xin are all free transfers. From the performance of the first phase, the performance of these five new reinforcements are worthy of recognition.
In terms of internal reinforcements, Ji Xiang, Shi Ke and Xu Xin were all full-time starters in the first five rounds of the game, of which Shi Ke played a full 450 minutes, Ji Xiang rested 45 minutes, and Xu Xin had 346 minutes of playing time, and all three were very eye-catching.
The partnership of center backs Shi Ke and Zheng Zheng built a solid defense for Taishan. Although the two are not outstanding in height, their stability and ability to handle the ball is convincing. In the first 5 rounds of matches, Taishan only conceded 3 goals, which is inseparable from their excellent play.
Ji Xiang has excelled in both offense and defense, playing the entire game except for half-time in the first match. He had an assist in each of the matches against Qingdao and Shenzhen, and his accurate curling passes have become a weapon in Taishan's side passes. Xu Xin provided a wonderful assist to Guo Tianyu in the first match against Chongqing.
The performance of foreign aid Sun Junho was equally surprising. He played all 450 minutes and became the center of Taishan's midfield. His midfield partnership with Jin Jingdao was almost impermeable, and was a key factor in Taishan conceding only one goal in the first four rounds. In the match against Henan, Sun Junho even scored his first goal after joining the Chinese Super League.
