New signing Yang Liyu caught a mistake by the opposing goalkeeper and scored a goal for Guoan. Photo/IC photo
On the evening of April 20, the second round of the 2023 Chinese Super League kicked off at Wuhan Sports Center Stadium. Beijing Guoan, playing away from home, was beaten 1-1 by defending champions Wuhan Three Towns. Although the team has not yet achieved its first win of the season, new signings such as Yang Liyu, Han Jiaqi and De Sousa have all performed well in this campaign.
grind in
The data is not inferior to the three towns of Wuhan, and the replacement of Si Shuai is debatable
After the 1-1 draw with Meizhou Hakka in the opening match of the new team, Guoan coach Stanley was asked about the team's tacit understanding. In that game, Guoan's cooperation mistakes in passing and receiving the ball were indeed too many. Stanley did not shy away from the question, "I ask the players to move the ball more, but this does require enough tacit understanding, such as the timing of the teammate's pass, which needs to be very tacit understanding. Therefore, this round of away games in Wuhan Three Towns, tacit understanding has become one of the key issues.
Compared with the first game, the Dutchman made adjustments to the starting line-up, Han Jiaqi replaced Zou Dehai to guard the goal, and the new signing from Beijing football youth training made his Guoan debut in this tough battle; Gao Tianyi and Wang Ziming entered the starting lineup, the former replacing Chi Zhongguo in position, and the latter replacing Adebenro, who did not travel with the team due to injury. Li Keze returned to the squad after 710 days and was on the bench.
Facing the three towns of Wuhan without Azizz, Wallace and Deng Hanwen, Beijing Guoan could only play at the rhythm of their opponents in the first half, and the shots of Stanqiu, Liu Yiming, Wei Shihao and Xie Pengfei successively created dangers in front of Guoanmen. The Guoan team steadied itself in the second half, and in the 62nd minute, Yang Liyu laughed at the "big gift" of two former teammates - Liu Dianzao, who received Wei Shihao's return pass, made a low-level mistake against Yang Liyu, who was snatched up, and was scored by the latter, and the score was dramatically rewritten.
Guoan, who led by one goal, fell short in the 92nd minute, Stan used Zhang Chengdong to replace the cramping De Sousa, and hastily changed to a three-back formation to create a "vacuum zone" in the middle of Guoan, and Edmilson received an assist from Stanciu to equalize the score, and the two teams who played a good half-time game shook hands 1-1.
Wuhan Three Towns scored one point in stoppage time, and Wuhan Three Towns goalkeeper Liu Dianza (bottom left) knelt down to celebrate. Yang Liyu gives hugs and comforts to his former teammates (bottom right). Photo/IC photo
Being "drawn" by the opponent at the last moment caused Guoan to lose 3 points. Stanley admitted after the game, "Although I don't think we will win this game, it is still difficult to accept the equalizer in stoppage time. "Fortunately, the Guoan team is showing improvement, with more fluid cooperation, and the number of passing errors has dropped significantly, which is not much different from the defending champions in key statistics such as possession, shots and passes. The team's attitude to the game is also worthy of recognition, Stanley cited the goal as an example, "Our fighting spirit is very good, the goal was scored through a high-pressure press, showing our desire to win. ”
In this game, in addition to Yang Liyu's "dramatic goal", Ademi and Jiang Xiangyou also had threatening opportunities, but failed to convert into goals. Before Zhang Yuning's comeback, Guoan still needs to solve the problem on the offensive end.
New signings
Han Jiaqi made a brilliant debut, and the answer sheet of Guoan New No. 5 was good
Before the start of the new season, Guoan officially announced the arrival of 8 new signings. The defending champions were awarded away from home, with a total of six new signings in the starting line-up. In addition to Yang Liyu, who opened the goal account, Han Jiaqi, who made several key saves, became a highlight, and De Sousa, who wore the No. 5 shirt, also began to play a key role.
Han Jiaqi, who is not afraid of the scene, and is even a little "crazy" in the face of big scenes, only used one game to make the eyes of the fans in Beijing shine. For Guoan's debut, his self-assessment is very modest, "I only knew a few hours before the game that I was going to start this game, and the performance was decent, and I gave full play to my ability in training, but the details still need to be improved." He regretted that the almost 3 points he had turned into 1 in the final minute, "We defended well throughout the game, but it was a pity that we lost the ball due to our own mistakes due to physical reasons. ”
Stanley, a goalkeeper, did not hesitate to praise his juniors, "Han Jiaqi is a good goalkeeper, he proved his strength with a wonderful save, it can be said that he saved this game, I can only praise his performance. ”
Han Jiaqi made his Guoan debut, and his performance was close to perfection. Photo/IC photo
De Sousa, who hopes to carry forward the fine tradition of "Guoan No. 5", also plays a key role in this battle. He improved the team's midfield defensive hardness and delivered an excellent answer: 45 accurate passes, 10 ground opponents 7 times, 3 aerial confrontations, 2 clearances, 2 breaks, 1 pass. Due to the fact that he could not fully participate in the pre-season preparation of Guoan, De Sousa still needs to improve his physical reserves to bring more help to the team.
It is worth mentioning that the two new signings Ademi and De Sousa both inspired the team in the dressing room after the game. Adémi apologised to the team for "not taking advantage of the goal", while De Sousa reviewed the result of the draw, "If we had focused a little more at the last moment, the result might have been different, and hopefully the details can be better in the future." ”
The two draws at the beginning of the season are unfortunate, but the integration of several new signings and the change in the atmosphere in the team after the game can see Guoan's efforts to change in a better direction.
Beijing News reporter Zhou Xiao
Edited by Wang Chunqiu
Proofreading by Wang Xin