At 18:00 Beijing time on September 17, in the first round of the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite League, Shandong Taishan sat at home Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium to face Australia's Central Coast Mariners. In the 8th minute, Li Yuanyi assisted Bi Jinhao to score with a hammer. After the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game in the first half, he gave the Central Coast Mariners a penalty after watching a video replay. Mikael hit the penalty spot, but his post-goal celebration drew displeasure from the fans and Tarzan players, who received a yellow card for it. Cressan, who came on as a second-half substitute, hit the post once. From the 74th to the 88th minute, Kazaishvili twice received assists from substitute Liao Lisheng to complete the brace. In the end, Taishan defeated the Central Coast Mariners 3-1 and won the AFC Champions League opener.
Shandong Taishan, who was in a stormy situation both inside and outside the field, put Wu Xinghan, who is currently plagued by injuries, into the registration list before the first round of the AFC Champions League Elite League, and Jia Feifei was replaced. Although Zeka, who has been injured for a long time, has returned to the training ground, he is not yet ready to play. Due to the fact that the opponent Central Coast Mariners only opened the new season of the Australian Premier League on October 18, they have only played one official game of Australia in the past four months, and the good thing for Tarzan is that the opponent will not get into the rhythm of the game quickly, but the downside is that this makes Tarzan lack the opportunity to study the opponent. Sainsbury, a former Australia international who returned from a 10-year summer window and has played for Inter and Jiangsu Suning, is currently the team's biggest name and has also become the new captain of the Central Coast Mariners.
In the 2nd minute of the opening game, the Central Coast Mariners dominated the anti-attack, Sainsbury sent a through pass near the arc of the center circle, Mikael's heel was split to the right, Vitor Feijiang broke through to the penalty area and crossed in front of the goal, and the unmarked Ngol shot low at the back point, and the ball was blocked by Wang Dalei from the bottom line. Mikael's corner kick from the left side, Lee Won-il and Sainsbury both fell to the ground in the scramble, and Karthak at the back post scored the ball, but Saudi referee Turaith whistled a timeout just after the corner, so the goal was invalidated. In the 8th minute, Kazaishvili knocked the ball back near the corner flag area on the left side, Li Yuanyi passed diagonally with his right foot into the penalty area, Bi Jinhao grabbed a header in front of the goal, and Taishan took a 1-0 lead at home. In the 16th minute, Gaddishvili brought down Mikael during a replay in front of his own penalty area, giving the opponent a well-placed free kick and also receiving a yellow card. Mikael took a direct shot and the ball went wide.
In the 20th minute, Mauragis assisted to shoot from a distance in front of the penalty area, and the ball bounced off the ground and was saved by Wang Dalei. In the 27th minute, Tapu shot from the periphery, Wang Dalei knocked the ball out with both fists, and then Zheng Zheng cleared the ball with a big foot. 1 minute later, near the right sideline of the front field, Fei Jiang got the ball straight through, and the center Edmondson, who pulled to the side, crossed to find Ngol in front of the goal, and Gao Zhunyi took the lead to head the ball out of the bottom line. In the 33rd minute, Li Yuanyi advanced to the front field and passed the ball before falling to the ground, Bi Jinhao turned around in front of the penalty area and flashed out of the air to hit the goal, and the ball was confiscated by the opponent's goalkeeper Pavlesic. In the 35th minute, Liu Yang broke through to the penalty area on the left side and knocked back, Peng Xinli's shot was blocked by the defender, the Central Coast Mariners got the ball and launched a counterattack, Huang Zhengyu put down Edmondson in the middle circle arc and received a yellow card. In the 40th minute, after Fei Jiang passed Liu Yang in the midfield, he burst into the penalty area and shot a long shot, but unfortunately the shot was a little outrageous.
In the third minute of stoppage time in the first half, Mikael took a corner kick from the left side, Wang Dalei punched the ball out of the penalty area, McCammont's long-range shot bounced on Huang Zhengyu, Ngol's header was ferried into the penalty area, Tapu shot, and the ball was held by Wang Dalei. After referee Turres blew the whistle at half-time, when VAR prompted a corner kick, Peng Xinli had a foul in the penalty area that was suspected of bringing down Tap. Although Tapu was not on the trajectory of the ball, Turreis still awarded a penalty after repeated reviews, which Li Yuanyi expressed his displeasure and the referee showed him a yellow card. Before Mikael took the penalty, Li Yuanyi stepped forward to interfere, and Edmonton stepped forward to push Li Yuanyi and received a yellow card. Mikael was undisturbed and did it overnight. After scoring the goal, Mikael first put his index finger to his mouth and made a gesture to close his mouth, and then ran to the stands and made a gesture of blocking his ears with his index fingers, which caused the dissatisfaction of the Tarzan fans in the stands and threw debris on the runway. Wang Dalei also ran to Mikael's side to warn him that he needed to pay attention to his movements, and then Peng Xinli, Bi Jinhao and other Taishan players also stepped forward to question Mikael, and the referee also showed Mikael a yellow card to warn him of his behavior. At half-time, Tarzan drew 1-1 with Central Coast Mariners.
Yibian fought again, Taishan replaced Liu Yang with central defender Shi Ke, and Zheng Zheng was pulled to the left. In the 56th minute, Kazaishvili took the ball on the right side of the penalty area and turned around to break through to the edge of the small penalty area, Li Yuanyi shot low into the far corner, and the ball was kicked to Sainsbury's left leg and went out of the bottom line. In the 60th minute, Cressan replaced Xie Wenneng. In the 65th minute, Peng Xinli and Cressan worked together to cut off Fei Jiang's ball, Cressan continued to feint from the middle to the right penalty area line to hit the goal, the ball was blocked by the defender and fell to the feet of Kazaishvili, who knocked back again, Cressan got the ball and hit again, and the ball touched the defender out of the bottom line.
In the 67th minute, Cressan took the ball on the left side of the front field and broke through to the penalty area in front of the three-person defense, and completed a wall-hitting cooperation with Bi Jinhao. In the 72nd minute, the Central Coast Mariners won a free kick on the right side of the front, Fei Jiang drove the ball to the goal, Taishan made an offside mistake in the backline, and the opponent's three players were successful in anti-offside, and Kartac at the back point was not ready and shot high.
In the 74th minute, Karthak made a mistake in the backfield pass, Liao Lisheng, who had just come on as a substitute, broke the ball and sent it to the vacant area on the right side, Kazaishvili stopped the ball and adjusted the step to volley, the ball flew into the net from the goalkeeper's armpit, and Taishan led 2-1 again. In the 78th minute, Engor dodged Shi Ke's tackle on the left sideline and crossed after breaking through, but fortunately, Li Yuanyi at the front point took the lead to clear the bottom line. The Central Coast Mariners' corner kick from the left was driven to goal, Wang Dalei came out without touching the ball, and Sainsbury's header at the back post hit the right post and bounced. In the 81st minute, Brandman and Storm-Rough, who came on as substitutes together, took a tactical corner from the right, the latter crossed, Sainsbury jumped high to press the defender's header but did not get it, but Gao Zhunyi next to the back post protected the ball with his body.
In the 86th minute, Brandman drove a free kick in front of the goal, Alu Kuhl shook his head to attack the goal, and Wang Da Lei Yuyue saved the ball from the bottom line. In the 88th minute, Zheng Zheng made a direct pass on the left side, substitute Chen Pu did it with his heel, Liao Lisheng made an accurate long pass with his left foot to the right rib, Kazaishvili took it to the penalty area and shot, the ball passed over the goalkeeper's head and fell into the goal, Taishan 3-1 to lock the win. In the 90th minute, substitute Delgado fired a powerful left-footed volley from the corner of the box on the right, but the ball was denied by the far post. In the end, Tarzan won 3-1 at home against the Central Coast Mariners.
(Sohu Sports Original: Yang Xixi)
Shandong Taishan lineup (4141): 14-Wang Dalei; 11-Liu Yang (46'27-Shi Ke), 5-Zheng Zheng, 3-Marcel, 33-Gao Zhunyi; 35-Huang Zhengyu; 10-Kazaishvili, 22-Li Yuanyi (80'8-Delgado), 25-Peng Xinli (69'20-Liao Lisheng), 23-Xie Wenneng (60'9-Cressan), 24-Bi Jinhao (80'29-Chen Pu);
Subs: 1-Yu Jinyong, 26-Liu Shibo, 2-Tong Lei, 8-Delgado, 9-Cressan, 13-Zhang Chi, 20-Liao Lisheng, 21-Liu Binbin, 27-Shi Ke, 29-Chen Pu, 30-Abdul Suli, 31-Zhao Jianfei;
Central Coast Mariners line-up (343): 1-Pavlesic; 12-Maurajis, 3-Karthak, 4-Sainsbury; 17-Ngol, 8-McCammont, 26-Tap, 10-Mikael (69'15-Storm Lu), 9-Alou Kuhl (90+2'29-Duvati), 99-Edmondson (69'37-Brandman), 11-Vitor Feijiang (82'35-Arthur de Lima);
Subs: 30-Woshwski, 15-Storm Lu, 24-Herrington, 27-Kuzewski, 29-Duwati, 33-Nathan Bol, 35-Arthur De Lima, 36-Ames, 37-Brandman.
Booked: Taishan: Kazaishvili 16, Hwang Jung-woo 35, Lee Won-il 45+5. Referee: Khalid Saleh Turaith (Saudi Arabia).