Special correspondent Gan Hui reports Shanghai Shenhua, who is accustomed to killing opponents in stoppage time, conceded a goal in this period this time, and this goal caused Shenhua to miss the victory. In the first leg of the 2025 Chinese Super League at Shanghai Stadium on March 1, the old rivals Shenhua and Guoan drew 2-2. The result extended Shenhua's run of failure to beat Beijing Guoan at home in the Chinese Super League since the 2015 season, and Shenhua still failed to get out of the curse.
After the game, head coach Slutsky described his mood as "heartache", "The result of the game was heart-wrenching, overall we created more chances, unfortunately conceded two goals and caused a draw. There weren't too many absolute chances for the opponent today, and we were used to scoring goals late in the game, and now it's really heart-wrenching that the opponent scores our goals. ”
Although Zhu Chenjie was absent due to a facial fracture in the first round of the league, although Shenhua suffered a blow to the head shortly after the opening, Beijing Guoan took advantage of a set-piece opportunity, and Lin Liangming's header broke the goal, taking the lead in breaking the deadlock, but the score did not dampen Shenhua's morale, in the second half of the first half, Shenhua played a momentum through active midfield pressing, gave Guoan a lot of pressure, and scored two goals in a row, overtaking the score.
In the 38th minute, Amadou intercepted the ball in front of Wu Xi and distributed the ball, the latter's angry shot was defused by Han Jiaqi, but Ngadeu's clearance was not far away, and the ball came to Wu Xi's feet again, and Wu Xi made a delicate shot to help Shenhua equalize. This goal reflects Wu Xi's keen observation and football wisdom, and Slutsky also spoke highly of him after the game, "Wu Xi scored a lot of goals as a captain, both offensive and defensive performances are excellent, in my opinion he is the best player in our team." ”
In the first half of stoppage time, Jiang Shenglong was punched in the face by Han Jiaqi when he hit the goal, referee Mai Maitijiang awarded a penalty, and Andre took the penalty in one fell swoop to help Shenhua end the first half of the game 2-1.
Throughout the first half, the confrontation between the two sides was very intense and the game was fast-paced. In contrast, Shenhua played more form, especially in the second half of the first half, playing the quick-transition football that Slutsky demanded. The head coach of Guoan, Setien, only coached Guoan this year, and the team is still in the run-in.
After taking the lead and being overtaken, Setien took the lead in making personnel adjustments. At halftime, he replaced Zhang Yuan, Li Lei and Wu Shaocong in one go, and switched to three central defenders to make up for the problems exposed on his left side.
In the subsequent game, Setien was replaced by Zhang Yuning and Yang Liyu successively. Unlike Setien, who frequently took the initiative to change, Slutsky's three substitution adjustments were two passive adjustments when the players on the field could not hold on. Due to the muscle discomfort of the two starting foreign strikers Andre and Mineiro, the two were replaced by Xu Haoyang and teenager Liu Chengyu successively. Liu Chengyu, who was selected for the latest national football training camp, played for the first time on behalf of Shenhua in the Chinese Super League.
Judging from the course of the game, Setien's adjustment was relatively successful. Especially after replacing Zhang Yuning and increasing the height of the front, it put a lot of pressure on the Shenhua defense. In the 83rd minute, Zhang Yuan received a second yellow card and was sent off with a red card, Shenhua, who played 11 to 10, did not show the advantage of one more person on the field.
With Andre and Mineiro gone, it has been difficult for Shenhua to organize an offensive to deal a blow to Guoan's defence. In stoppage time, Guoan scored a header from Fabio through a cross from the bottom, and the ball smashed on the underside of the crossbar and hit Bao Yaxiong's back and bounced into the net, making the score 2-2 and achieving a draw against Shenhua away.
Asked after the game if the three substitutions had worked, Slutsky said: "Two of the substitutions were passive, the ones who came after the injury. Our starting line-up looks good overall, but after passive substitutions, it's more difficult to ask players to do more, and the effect of substitutions is not so immediate. ”
On March 5, Shenhua will face Japan's Kawasaki Frontale in the AFC Champions League elite league knockout round, and the injuries of two strikers, Andre and Mineiro, are bound to have a big impact on this game. In his post-match press conference, Slutsky said, "It's not clear exactly what the extent of the injury is. This is a muscle injury, see later. ”