In the 9th round of the 2024 Chinese Super League, a key battle was played at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center, with Shandong Taishan facing the visiting Nantong Zhiyun. In the first 8 rounds, Taishan won 4 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, ranking 5th in the standings with 14 points, and Nantong Zhiyun ranked 11th with 2 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses and 8 points. The two teams are clearly in different positions and the difference in quality is obvious, but the two sides drew 1-1 in both legs last season. In terms of starters, Cressan burst forward, behind Abdou Suli, Fernando, Li Yuanyi and Kazaishvili, Huang Zhengyu single back, Tong Lei, Shi Ke, Zheng Zheng, Liu Yang formed a defensive line, and goalkeeper Wang Dalei.
In the first half, Shandong Taishan dominated the possession and created more shots on goal, but the score was tied 1-1. In the 5th minute of the opening game, Abdou Suli grabbed the ball in the front court, and then sent a precise through ball, Cressan crossed from the right side of the penalty area, but unfortunately his teammates failed to keep up, and the ball slid past the goal!
In the 18th minute, Kazane cut, and teammates to do the wall to cooperate directly with the leg shot, the ball is too positive and not much power, Xue Qinghao confiscated the ball; in the 28th minute, Wang Dalei was cut off from the backfield, Ye Daochi picked Shi Ke into the penalty area, in the face of Wang Dalei skillfully shot the goal, 1-0, Nantong Zhiyun took the lead in a passive situation! After losing the ball, the Taishan team strengthened the attack, in the 29th minute, Liu Yang crossed from the left, Cressan headed the goal in front of the goal, Xue Qinghao flew to save the ball from the bottom line!
In the 33rd minute, Taishan's strong attack scored a goal! Fernando crossed from the left, Cressan stopped the ball at the back point, and then shot hard, Xue Qinghao touched the ball, but failed to prevent the ball from entering the net, Taishan equalized 1-1! In the third minute of stoppage time at halftime, Li Yuanyi crossed from the right side, Fernando outflanked the shot in front of the goal, and the ball was slightly off! At halftime, the two teams drew 1-1, Taishan had 60% possession in the half, created 10 shots on goal and 4 shots on target, and Nantong Zhiyun had 3 shots on goal and 2 shots on target.
In the 50th minute, Taishan counterattacked through the right side, Fernando held the ball and burst to the bottom line, Cressan scored directly in front of the goal, 3-1! Taishan opened the score; In the 58th minute, Taishan played a tacit cooperation again on the right side of the field, Fernando crossed the ball with his feet, and goalkeeper Xue Qinghao blocked the ball; and then Nantong Zhiyun counterattacked, and Mata shot in the left pocket popped up on the crossbar!
In the 62nd minute, Fernando stepped forward to get a single chance, but unfortunately he missed after passing the goalkeeper! But Fernando strained his thigh when shooting, and then Xie Wenneng was replaced; in the 71st minute, Mata broke through the cross from the left side of the field, and Godinez outflanked the shot in front of the goal, missing the opportunity to narrow the score! After that, Taishan still dominated the ball on the field, but neither side could change the score. In the end, Taishan reversed Nantong Zhiyun 3-1 with Cressan's hat trick and won 3 consecutive victories. After the 3 points were in hand, Taishan was also able to temporarily surpass the harbor by 2 points and rise to 3rd place in the standings!