Reported by journalist Chen Yong The first leg ended 3-0 at home, and the second leg finished 5-1 away. Across both matches, Shandong Taishan secured two dominant wins over Liaoning Tieren. After the games, many observers agreed that Liaoning Tieren’s decision to control the game and attack actively inadvertently allowed Taishan to slip into their most effective counter-attacking rhythm, thereby fully showcasing their own characteristics and advantages, culminating in an overwhelming 8-1 aggregate score over the two contests.

Tieren: Aggressive attack leads to painful lessons

On March 7, during the first round of the Chinese Super League, Shandong Taishan hosted Liaoning Tieren. Both sides fielded five foreign players, and the Tieren coach at that time was Li Jinyu. In that match, Tieren did not employ a counter-attacking approach; instead, Taishan frequently launched high-quality counterattacks, eventually winning 3-0: Xie Wenneng opened the scoring, Crysan converted a penalty to double the lead, and Zeca netted the third goal.

On June 27, the second leg took place, with Liaoning Tieren now coached by Seo Jung-won, who was very familiar with Taishan. Both teams started with three foreign players each, but the flow of the game was not much different from the first leg: Zeca opened the scoring, then scored a penalty to extend the lead; later, Kazaishvili converted a penalty to make it 3-0; Madruga scored to put Taishan ahead 4-0; after Tieren pulled one back, Kazaishvili scored twice to seal the game at 5-1.

In the first leg, Taishan had 35.1% possession, a 20-12 shot ratio, and a 7-1 shots-on-target ratio, resulting in a 3-0 win. In the second leg, their possession was 43.4%, the shot ratio was 22-10, and shots on target were 10-1, leading to a 5-1 victory. It can be said that the two matches followed an identical pattern; the only difference was that in the second leg, Taishan could have even reached double-digit goals, as they missed one one-on-one chance, two open-goal opportunities, and hit the woodwork three times.

Post-match reviews all concluded that Liaoning Tieren’s attempt to control the game and actively attack was a strategic mistake against a stronger overall team like Taishan. Of course, the first round was Tieren’s CSL debut, so their desire to play more aggressively was understandable. As for the second leg, Seo Jung-won’s team had been in good form after his appointment, having won three consecutive matches, including a 3-2 home victory over Shanghai Port, which gave him ample confidence. However, Shanghai Port does not primarily rely on counter-attacks, whereas Shandong Taishan has used counter-attacking as their main tactic in recent years. Although the opponents seemed similar, their characteristics were entirely different, and the same strategy led to completely opposite outcomes.

The progression of both legs also forced Liaoning Tieren to actively push forward: in the first round, Tieren conceded the first goal in the 8th minute; in this round, they conceded in the 14th minute—early goals forced them to strengthen their attack, which in turn exposed more defensive vulnerabilities.

Xie Wenneng shines, Maiwulang stands out

After the June break, Shandong Taishan performed strongly: they won 5-0 away against Guangxi Hengchen in the FA Cup round of 16, and then beat Liaoning Tieren 5-1 away in the 16th round of the league. This undoubtedly gave Taishan more confidence for the second half of the season and provided head coach Han Peng with greater flexibility.

In the match on June 27, aside from the foreign players who scored, the most impressive performer was actually Xie Wenneng. Although he didn't score, he excelled on both ends of the pitch: Taishan's first goal came from his assist; earlier, in the 6th minute, he delivered a great pass to Zeca, who unfortunately failed to convert; in the 93rd minute, Xie sent a brilliant through ball to Peng Yixiang, creating an open-goal chance, but the latter missed; in the 95th minute, Xie unleashed a high-quality long-range shot that hit the post. More importantly, besides his attacking contributions, Xie was also highly active defensively.

The brightest young star was Maiwulang: in the 32nd minute, his long pass set up Zeca for a one-on-one chance, but Zeca failed to score; in the 48th minute, Maiwulang delivered a cross from the right, winning a penalty for Taishan. In this match, Maiwulang's pressing was excellent, and he displayed great stamina, nearly playing the entire game.

Maiwulang is 22 years old. Originally playing as an attacking midfielder and forward, he was loaned to Qingdao Hainiu in the second half of the 2025 season, making 11 appearances with an average of 81 minutes per game, which helped him become more familiar with the CSL. He suffered an injury in the first half of this season. In the previous FA Cup match, he started as a left-back; in this game, he played as a left midfielder in the first half and switched to a right midfielder in the second half. Maiwulang primarily plays as an attacking midfielder but can also function as a forward, left/right winger, left/right full-back, and left/right wing-back—a true versatile player.

In this match, all of Taishan's substitutes were young players: Li Xiaoheng (Hong Kong, China) aged 24, Yimulan 21, Peng Xiao 21, Peng Yixiang 21, Shi Songchen 21. Another young player, Chen Zeshi, did not travel with the team due to injury.