3-0！ Cui Kangxi took revenge on the old master, and his bold words came true only a stone's throw away, and the turning point of Shenhua came in February ahead of schedule
On July 11, 2023, Beijing time, the Chinese Super League ushered in a focus match in the 16th round, with Shandong Taishan sitting at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium to face the visiting Shanghai Shenhua team. It is worth mentioning that the head coaches of both teams have coached each other, and this Luhu battle is also the battle between Wu Jingui and Cui Kangxi against the old master.
Shandong Taishan, playing at home, are unbeaten in 11 games before this campaign. After South Korean coach Choi Kang-hee took up the coaching whip, the team was reborn from the beginning of the season, the players regained confidence and trust, and the impact of poor winter training was gradually fading. This battle against Shenhua again, Shandong Taishan naturally hopes to avenge the loss in the first round of the season.
In the last round, Shenhua played 1-0 for the eighth time of the season, beating Zhejiang while closing the gap between herself and league leaders Shanghai Port to three points. This time, facing old rival Shandong Taishan, who has recovered their form, Shanghai Shenhua released a 433 double central back formation after the opening, which is also Wu Jingui's regular opening formation this season.
However, it is precisely because of this familiar two-centre-back formation, as well as the poor play of the left and right full-backs Yan Xinli and Yang Zexiang, that Shandong Taishan, who is good at wing attack, played the most comfortable 45 minutes of the season. In the first half, Liu Binbin and Chen Pu almost finished Shenhua's two wings, and the number of crosses in the half alone reached an astonishing 11.
And when Shandong Taishan crosses from both sides, Shenhua's two central defenders often have to face 2 or 3 attacking players, which also makes Shandong Taishan's first point success rate exceed 50%. Allowing a team like Shandong Taishan to get more than ten crosses in the half-time and a scrambling success rate of more than 50 percent in the box is almost suicidal.
In the 20th minute of the game, Moisés took a corner kick, Chen Pu at the back point met the volley, the ball was touched by the Shenhua team and returned to the feet of Moisés, the Brazilian swept the ball directly to the goal on the right wing, assisted Judson on the back heel lightly, with a scorpion swing to complete the goal, the score was also rewritten to 1-0.
However, just before Shenhua's foothold was settled, Shandong Taishan scored again. In the 27th minute of the game, Chen Binbin on the right flanked into the box after playing a wall kick with Moisés, and then passed the ball to the center, and Chen Pu in front of the goal turned around and hit the goal after picking the ball, breaking Ma Zhen's ten fingers again and helping Shandong Taishan take a 2-0 lead.
In less than thirty minutes, the team had conceded two goals, which Wu Jingui and his disciples did not expect. But what they didn't expect was that Shenhua's goal conceded in the first half continued. In the 34th minute of the game, Shandong Taishan won a corner kick in front, Moisés passed the ball and found Fellaini in the middle, who showed "traditional craftsmanship" and slammed a head hammer to open the city of Shanghai Shenhua again, the score was 3-0.
Trailing by three goals at halftime, the veteran Shenhua who warmed up on the sidelines was anxious for Han Chao. However, even if Yu Hanchao replaces the almost "invisible" Teixeira and starts, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve much effect, because Shenhua's front, middle and back three lines are almost disjointed, and there is only one unreliable long-range shot in the entire half, which fully demonstrates this point.
After a 15-minute intermission, the two sides fought again. Shanghai Shenhua, who was three goals behind, replaced Xu Haoyang, He Longhai, Teixeira and Liu Ruofan after the opening of the second half, and replaced Yu Hanchao, Bassogo, Jin Yangyang and Zhang Wei, and changed to a three-centre-back formation, trying to make the two wing-backs press more to revitalize the attack.
Shandong Taishan coach Cui Kangxi was clear-sighted and took the initiative to remove the excellent Moisés, Chen Pu and Liu Binbin in about 60 minutes, shifting his focus from attack to defense. This made Shenhua, who was interested in counterattacking, not achieve much success in the offensive end, but instead made frequent mistakes in the midfield. Although a few chances were created, almost all of them were barely long-range shots without threat. Even with a group of elite soldiers, the entire second half failed to make any waves.
With a whistle from referee Du Jianxin, the game was over. With three first-half goals from Judson, Chen Pu and Fellaini, Shandong Taishan finally defeated Shanghai Shenhua 3-0. While unbeaten in 12 consecutive matches, Choi Kang-hee also completed his "revenge" against his old club. With Tianjin Jinmen Tigers drawing 1-1 with Cangzhou Lions in this round, Shandong Taishan's league ranking was also able to rise to fourth, just one step away from Cui Kangxi's return to the top three.
On the other hand, Shanghai Shenhua, who lost, although there was no change in the league ranking, gave Shanghai Port a great opportunity to shake off itself. What's more, a 3-0 defeat is likely to cost players the confidence they have built up over half a season. Since the Jin Yuan era, because of a big defeat, he lost his spirit and slumped, which seems to have become an old problem that Shenhua cannot change. Previously, the author has always believed that the turning point in Shenhua's performance may appear before the Asian Games in September. Now, this crisp defeat is also likely to become a major turning point for Shenhua this season.