On January 1, 2022, Beijing time, the 21st round of the Chinese Super League continued, and the 2nd place in the championship group Guangzhou team vs. the 4th place Changchun Yatai continued. In the first half, the two teams played more dull. In the second half, Guangzhou's new "twin stars" broke out, and youngsters Ling Jie and Tan Kaiyuan scored one goal each, thus helping Guangzhou team win 2-0 against Changchun Yatai. Since the Shanghai Harbor team on the other side also reversed Shandong Taishan 2-1, the Guangzhou team currently has a score of 44 points, the same as the harbor team's points, and only in the last round can it be determined whether it will directly qualify for the AFC Champions League.
Let's take a look at the starting lineup of the two teams, Guangzhou lined up a 352 formation, goalkeeper Liu Weiguo; 3 defenders are Deng Hanwen, Zhang Linpeng and Li Xuepeng; 5 midfielders are Ling Jie, He Chao, Zheng Zhi, Liao Lisheng and Yan Dinghao; the two forwards are Yang Liyu and Zhang Xiuwei respectively. The squad is worth 2.68 million euros and has an average age of 27.7 years;
Changchun Yatai is also in a 352 formation, with goalkeeper Wu Yake; 3 defenders are Okore, Sun Jie and Mao Kaiyu; 5 midfielders are Rao Weihui, Dili Yimiti, Li Guangwen, Yang Chaosheng and Yan Zhiyu; and the two forwards are international Tan Long and Eric. Yatai's starting line-up is worth a total of 4.48 million euros and has an average age of 28.9 years.
After the start of the game, Guangzhou played better in organizing the attack. In the 13th minute, He Chao and Sun Jie went out of the border when they were competing for the ball on the side, He Chao picked up the ball and wanted to throw the ball immediately, but Sun Jie blocked in front of him. He Chao took the ball in both hands and hit Sun Jie's face, and the latter fell to the ground and began to perform. For this action, the referee gave both sides a verbal warning.
Sun Jie's mood seemed to have been greatly affected after that, and in the 18th minute, Sun Jie also had an argument with Zheng Zhi, and finally ended the argument at the referee's mediation.
Judging from Zheng Yuan's expression and actions on the field at that time, and also pointing at Sun Jie and saying something, the general meaning may be: Hey, you don't talk about the useless, hurry up and play the ball. Judging from Zheng Zhi's performance, the aura of veteran Zheng Zhi, looking at all the players in the Chinese Super League, including coaches, is top-notch.
In the first half, the two teams fought to a 0-0 draw, guangzhou had seven shots on goal in the first half, and it was clear that Zheng Zhi's team occupied the initiative on the field. Although Changchun Yatai only had one shot on goal in the first half, it did not bring guangzhou any good opportunities on the defensive end.
In the 49th minute of the second half, Changchun Yatai wasted a great chance. At that time, the Changchun Yatai midfielder launched a counterattack, Zheng Zhi made a mistake in breaking the ball, eric used his heel to pass the ball to Yang Ultrasound, who had already swung open the goalkeeper to hit the empty goal, but unfortunately played high.
Although the ball was missed, Yatai had two subsequent attacks that were very threatening. In the 64th minute, the Yatai team began to make a big move, replacing Tan Long with Junier. The signal of Yatai's substitution is already very clear, that is, to strengthen the attack.
In the 72nd minute, several consecutive passes from the middle of the Guangzhou team penetrated the yatai team's backline, and the young player Ling Jie actively inserted a single knife and swung past the goalkeeper to win the goal, and guangzhou took a 1-0 lead.
Ling Jie exhausted his last bit of strength in the high-intensity running, and there was a strong cramp in his leg after scoring. While running to him to celebrate, many guangzhou players also helped relieve the pain caused by cramps. But then Ling Jie really couldn't hold out any longer and was eventually replaced by another young player, Tan Kaiyuan.
In the 77th minute, Zheng Zhi was almost injured, and in the process of defending Junier, the latter accidentally stepped on Zheng Zhi's calf, and after checking that there was no major problem, he continued to play.
In the 82nd minute, substitute Tan Kaiyuan scored a goal that sealed the win, leading Changchun Yatai 2-0. It is very happy that in the last two rounds of the competition, young players Ling Jie and Tan Kaiyuan have achieved a big explosion and have become a strong guarantee for Guangzhou to win consecutive victories.
The game also set 3 new records. First, after Zheng Zhi completed the appearance, he once again refreshed the oldest appearance record held by himself in 41 years and 134 days; second, the young player Ling Gray has completed the second goal of the season, at the age of 18, he also created the record of the smallest player in the history of Guangzhou (Evergrande) team, and it is also the second goal; third, the four goals of the Guangzhou team in two games are all arranged by Evergrande Football School, it seems that investing more than 3 billion yuan in 9 years is still effective.