Gustavo/Wu Lei both scored twice, and Wang Shenchao scored a goal to help Shanghai Port beat Qingdao Manatee 5-0 away, creating the biggest victory of the season while Harbour also tied Rongcheng in the standings.
The first battle against Meizhou Hakka was postponed, disrupting the rhythm of the seaport's preparations. In the battle against Shenhua, if it were not for the referee's final decision that Wang Haijian's goal was invalid, then Harbour's unbeaten record in the Chinese Super League this season would have ended.
Muscat said: "A lot of the players on the pitch are more difficult in terms of fitness than they have played before, and they haven't played for almost two weeks, which definitely has had an impact on our physical condition. ”
After a lucky one-point point, Harbour faced a tough schedule of six races in a week. Although the opponents are Manatee and Xinpeng City, Harbour has played away from home in a row, which once again puts the players' physical fitness to the test.
However, after the away victory over Xinpeng City, the Manatee players also suffered flight delays, and some players only returned to Qingdao on the 28th, and the physical fitness of both teams was not at its best. In addition, they will play against Wuhan Three Towns and Nantong Zhiyun later, and Manatee also needs to make trade-offs in three games.
In the dominant situation, Wu Lei's goal broke the deadlock. In the 27th minute of the game, Vargas made a diagonal pass, and Wu Lei burst into the penalty area in an offside position and scored with a low shot, 1-0!
In the 30th minute, Wu Lei crossed the bottom line, Gustavo shoveled the goal, but the linesman signaled that Wu Lei was offside. The video assistant referee then stepped in and confirmed the goal. In first-half stoppage time, Oscar scored a goal, but Cittadini was offside and the goal was disallowed.
After Manatee missed a series of good opportunities to score in the second half, Gustavo scored with a header in the 60th minute, expanding the score to 3-0! In the 79th minute, Xu Xin made a diagonal pass, and the unmarked Wang Shenchao pushed the goal, 4-0! In the 87th minute, Wu Lei scored a single goal to seal the victory.
After the victory over Manatee, Harbour temporarily tied Rongcheng with 18 points with one more game and relied on goal difference to sit in second place. At the same time, the harbor set a series of records.
First, Harbour extended their unbeaten run in the Super League to eight games this season. Secondly, Harbour extended their unbeaten run in the Chinese Super League to 10 games across the season, with their last defeat coming at Guoan on 20 October 2023. Third, Muscat extended his unbeaten record in the Chinese Super League.
Fourth, Harbour have won all of their last 4 matches against Manatee, scoring 18 goals and conceding only 2 goals. Fifth, in the last two away games against Manatee, Harbour has won all of them, scoring 10 goals and conceding 0 goals.
Sixth, this is the first time this season that Harbour have won by more than four goals, ushering in the biggest victory of the season. Seventh, this is the first time this season that Harbour have scored more than five goals in a single game.
Ahead of the 13th round away to Rongcheng, Harbour have a fairly easy schedule against Xinpeng City, Changchun Yatai and West Coast, which means that Harbour will continue their unbeaten run of the season.