On the afternoon of January 4, Beijing time, the final round of the Chinese Super League championship group ushered in a focus battle, guangzhou team against Shanghai Harbor. In the end, Guangzhou lost the match 0-1, and the ranking was dropped to third by Shanghai Harbor, setting a record for the team's worst ranking in the Chinese Super League in 11 years.
After the 2-0 defeat of Changchun Yatai in the last round, Guangzhou won 3 consecutive wins, and Shanghai Harbor was forced to draw 2-2 by Shandong Taishan, so that Guangzhou team had a 2-point advantage to sit in the second place in the standings, and the last round of the two teams directly met, Shanghai Harbor only wins to surpass Guangzhou team to get the runner-up.
In terms of starting, Guangzhou continued the all-Chinese squad, head coach and captain Zheng Zhi sat on the bench, let Wu Shaocong partner Zhang Linpeng form a center-back combination, Ling Jie and Yang Liyu led the front line, Liao Lisheng, Yan Dinghao, Zhang Xiuwei, Hou Yu sat in the midfield, Shanghai Harbor sent most of the main forces, Oscar and MuYi two major foreign aides appeared, while Lu Wenjun, Yan Junling, Mai Tijiang, He Xi jointly started.
In the 5th minute, Deng Hanwen burst into the penalty area and single-handedly passed goalkeeper Yan Junling, and finally the shot without angle was blocked out of the bottom line. In the 24th minute, Hou Yu sent an oblique pass, Ling Jie and Deng Hanwen formed a single knife overnight and then swung past goalkeeper Yan Junling, and chose to return the pass after no angle.
After Guangzhou missed a series of single knife balls, there was a problem in the back line. In the 29th minute, Lu Wenjun sent a long pass, Liu Zhurun pushed lightly in front of the field, and the ball slowly rolled into the net, helping Shanghai Harbor to take a 1-0 lead.
At the end of the first half, Guangzhou fell behind 0-1, with a slight advantage of 51% possession, leading 6-3 on goal, and falling behind Shanghai Harbor 1-2 on target.
Entering the second half, in the 49th minute, Yang Liyu crossed the ball in front of the goal, and his teammates did not cover it. In the 59th minute, Guangzhou opened a corner kick, and Yan Dinghao's header went high above goal.
In the 96th minute, Guangzhou won a penalty opportunity, and then Zhang Linpeng took the penalty and deflected, and finally Guangzhou had no way to equalize, losing 0-1, suffering the first defeat in the last 7 games, and the team's record of keeping a clean sheet in 5 consecutive games was ended.
In addition, after losing to Shanghai Harbour, Guangzhou finished third and finally finished third, setting the record for the team's worst ranking since it was promoted to the Chinese Super League in 2011, after winning 8 championships and 2 runners-up in 10 years.