Reporter Lu Mi reports In the 2025 season of the Chinese Super League, the "Battle of Luyu" will be staged in the first round. In the history of league meetings, Henan team has failed to win a single victory in the last 10 visits to Jinan to challenge Shandong Taishan, with 3 draws and 7 losses. In the game on the afternoon of the 23rd, Shandong Taishan goalkeeper Wang Dalei received a red card in the 23rd minute of the opening game, but unfortunately the Henan team still failed to rewrite the score in the case of one more player in the past 70 minutes, 0-0 to gain 1 point.

Without a captain, the midfield is not running well

In response to this game, Henan team head coach Nan Jiyi came up with the starting lineup, basically the same as the main lineup of winter training, except for the captain Wang Shangyuan because of bone cracks could not enter the list, Cardoso basically did not participate in South Korea during the winter training, only in the final sprint stage and the team to run-in, therefore, this game Nasario and domestic center Liu Xinyu took on more offensive tasks.

This season, Nan Kiichi has made a big adjustment in tactics, compared to last year's high pressing tactics of playing four backs, this year he is more inclined to defensive counterattacks. The combination of Maidana and Maia's two foreign centre-backs is indeed better than last season in terms of stability.

In this battle against Shandong Taishan, the Henan team was ready to resist high pressure, but the game soon ushered in an accident. In the 20th minute, the Henan team launched a quick counterattack, Wang Dalei made a mistake, and stepped directly on Henan striker Liu Xinyu without touching the ball. After being confirmed by VAR, the referee showed a red card and sent him off, and the Taishan team was forced to replace midfielder Xie Wenneng with 20-year-old substitute goalkeeper Jin Yong, and the Henan team entered a favorable situation of playing one more person.

For the rest of the first half, the Henan team did not quickly change their tactics because of the unexpected situation, although the Taishan team played one less, but the scene was not behind, in terms of offensive data, Taishan possession rate was as high as 64%, 11 shots on goal, Henan team only 4 times. In the case of one more player, it is obviously difficult for the Henan team to be satisfied with such data.

In the second half, the Henan team began to use the numerical advantage to strengthen the attack, and in the 63rd minute, foreign aid Nasario grabbed the point and shot at the post; In the 70th minute, substitute Cardoso's close-range header was saved by Yu Jinyong and missed a great opportunity. At the same time, the Taishan team did not give up their offensive opportunities because of one less player, and the Henan team's double foreign aid central defender combination of Maidana and Maia intercepted the Taishan team's crosses many times, and performed well in the header battle, effectively limiting the Taishan team's crosses and high-altitude ball threat.

The Taishan team wanted to use Cressan and Zeka to continue to put pressure on the two foreign aid forwards, and the Henan team also continued to strengthen the offensive strength, replacing Achimpeng with Huang Zichang, but the offensive efficiency of the two teams was not high, and they ended up in a blank exchange.

Cardoso can only run in while fighting

The Henan team played one more person, and there was a chance to win the game, but there were indeed personnel problems in the team. After Wang Shangyuan's absence, the midfield was a little messy, He Chao and Huang Ruifeng were active in the transition between attack and defense, but lacked breakthrough means in the face of Taishan's contraction defense. Foreign aid striker Cardoso, because the run-in time with the team is not enough, Nan Jiyi does not give him too much time, I believe that with the progress of the game and the subsequent intermission, the Henan team's forward line will improve to a certain extent, and the counterattack efficiency pursued in the new season will also be played.

After the game, Nan Jiyi said: "Everything is difficult at the beginning, we are facing a strong opponent in the away game, and Shandong's attack is very strong. We played the content of the winter training and created a lot of chances in the second half, but unfortunately we didn't take advantage of it and didn't take away the three points, but this point is also the hard work of the players, and I think we can be satisfied with one point. ”

Of course, Nanji's attitude of being satisfied with one more player and scoring 1 point may make many Henan fans feel dissatisfied, after all, the team should have a higher pursuit. In the whole game, the Henan team only had 46% possession, and the number of shots on goal was 9 times less than that of the opponent, and it did not convert the numerical advantage into the field advantage, let alone into a goal. Taking away one point away from home is a bit unfortunate in terms of results, but compared to last year, the team has improved defensively this year, which will build confidence for the next games.