On the afternoon of October 29, the second leg of the 1/4 final of the Chinese Football Association Cup continued, and Shanghai Shenhua and Shenzhen team competed fiercely for a place in the final four at the Jinzhou Stadium in Dalian. In the face of the fierce attack of the Shenzhen team that lost in the first leg, Zeng Cheng became the patron saint of Shenhua. He resisted highly, repeatedly defused the threatening offensive of the Shenzhen team, and tried to ensure that the Shenhua City Gate was not lost. In the end, Shenhua drew 0:0 with Shenzhen and advanced to the top four of the FA Cup with a total score of 1:0 in two legs. In the semi-finals, Shenhua will face the same city rival Shanghai Harbor Team.
Four days ago, the two teams played the first leg of the match, and with Yu Hanchao's goal before the end of the first half, Shenhua finally won 1:0. Before the goal arrived, Shenhua's foreign striker Dunbia received a cross from Han Chao, but the header hit the crossbar and missed the opportunity to open the record for Shenhua. In the second half, Kaldek's header also hit the lintel. In stoppage time, Shenzhen youngster Dai Weijun got the ball and got rid of a number of Shenhua defenders in succession, and shot into the box, but the ball was successfully blocked by Jonić.
The first leg win was not enough joy for Shenhua, acting coach Mao Yijun said that the second leg of the game is the real decisive battle, the team will be through the solid defense, and strive to expand the advantage. Shenzhen coach Carlos Granero stressed that in the second leg of the game, the team will not shrink back and counterattack, but will still take the initiative to seek a way to attack and break the goal, hoping to use the remaining 90 minutes to reverse the score.
In this game, Shenhua's starting lineup has changed slightly compared to the previous game, and Eddie, who was sent off by a red card in the 16-8 match against Changchun Yatai, returned to the starting lineup with Yang Xu and Sun Shilin. Qian Jiezhi and Zhang Lu, who won the starting opportunity in the last game, returned to the bench, and Dumbia was not included in the competition list.
After the opening, the performance of the two teams was as their respective managers said before the game, with Shenzhen, which was behind in the overall score, focusing on attack, while Shenhua was mainly defensive. In just 1 minute, Zhang Yuan of Shenzhen team suddenly unleashed a cold arrow outside the penalty area, and Zeng Cheng fell to the ground to block the ball out of bounds.
In the 8th minute, Yu Hanchao broke through to create a foul on his opponent and win a free kick opportunity for Shenhua in front of the field. Peng Xinli drove into the penalty area, Moreno's header rushed to the top, and Shenzhen goalkeeper Zhang Lu saved the ball.
Since then, the two sides have attacked and defended each other, but the score on the field has never been rewritten. In the 42nd minute of the game, shenzhen team launched an attack on the right side, Ye Lijiang's low flat ball was crossed, Achim Peng at the front point was interfered with by Shenhua defenders and failed to touch the ball, Mi Haolun at the back point followed up with a strong shot, Zeng Cheng struggled to seal the ball.
The two sides went into the halftime with a 0-0 score, and Shenhua still led 1-0 on aggregate.
Shortly after the start of the second half, Shenzhen's right side attack resumed, and Dai Weijun, a youngster from Hong Kong, received a cross from his teammate, made a slight adjustment and shot from outside the penalty area, and Zeng Cheng fell to the ground again to seal the ball out of bounds.
As the game progressed, the Shenzhen team's offensive became more and more fierce. In the 55th minute, Kaldek fired a long-range shot from outside the penalty area and the ball went high over the crossbar. Four minutes later, Dai Weijun seemed to hang a pass on the left side of the front to the goal, and Zeng Cheng concentrated and lifted the ball off the crossbar on the goal line. Subsequently, the Shenzhen team crossed from the right, and the Shenhua defender's siege ghost made the god fall at the feet of Achimpen, who fired at close range and was once again magically defused by Zeng Cheng.
In the 67th minute, Shenhua took the lead in making adjustments, Cao Yunding and Bi Jinhao replaced Zhao Mingjian and Yang Xu respectively, but the Shenzhen team continued to launch threatening attacks. In the 79th minute, Zhang Yuan again tried a long-range shot outside the penalty area, and Zeng Cheng fell to the ground to confiscate the ball. Three minutes later, Shenzhen's left corner kick was released, and after the Shenhua players worked together to complete the defense, Eddie, Jonić and other 4 people fell into the box at the same time. Putting in defense for a long time has caused Shenhua players to have different degrees of physical strength.
In the 83rd minute, Shenhua made another substitution, and Qian Jie replaced Moreno. Soon after, the former was violated by Shenzhen players in the attack, and for Shenhua to win a free kick opportunity in the front, Cao Yunding shelled the goal and deflected it.
In the 88th minute, Dai Weijun drove a corner kick, the ball was directly rotated towards the goal, and Zeng Cheng struggled to block it. In stoppage time, Shenzhen once again organized an attack through set-pieces, and Sun Ke's header from inside the penalty area was deflected into the top of the goal.
In the end, relying on Zeng Cheng's bravery, Shenhua saved the 0-0 draw, thus eliminating Shenzhen with a total score of 1:0 in two legs and successfully advancing to the top four of this season's FA Cup. In the semi-finals, Shenhua will compete with Shanghai Harbour for two legs. In another match that ended a little later, Harbor also drew 0-0 with Dalian Renren, advancing to the tournament with a 3-0 win in the first leg.