The absence of Super League football this week meant that all the dongbei action was focused on League One and one city in particular, Dalian. Both of the city’s teams were at home over the weekend but neither of them were able to take advantage of playing on home soil.
Dalian Transcendence 0-0 Wuhan Zall
Transcendence’s first home game of the season might not have produced any goals but a decent performance and a worthy competitor in Wuhan Zall made for a lively game of football.
The first half was peppered with chances, the first of which came after 10 minutes 
when Erton Fejzullahu’s wonderful cross found Zhang Jian on the right. Some quick footwork saw him get past Ke Zhao only to be denied by a great tackle made inside the box. 15 minutes later Jailton Paraiba found enough space to whip in a cross than just evaded the head of Fejzullahu who had broken past the defense. Zall weren’t without their chances and had a chance to take the lead when Guo Wei’s weak punch after a high cross from the left found the feet of Luo Yi who took a touch and fired goal-wards, only to see it go wide of the left post.
Transcendence tried to make an immediate impact after the break, Han Xu getting between the Zall defense but he fired his header wide. His free-kick 15 minutes later found the head of Fejzullahu but he put his effort well wide. Zall hit back with a couple of chances from corners but neither found the back of the net.
An encouraging performance from Transcendence albeit one that didn’t oversell their finishing qualities. However, their introduction to this league has been largely positive and they warrant their third place position in the table. They travel to Beijing in a couple of weeks’ time to take on Renhe.
Dalian Yifang 0-2 Hunan Billows
An underwhelming performance from Yifang saw them suffer defeat at home to Hunan Billows in what transpired to be a rather dull ninety minutes of football.
The first half seemed to crawl by as both sides failed to create any real chances, Bangura being the only Yifang player to even half-threaten the
Hunan goal with his effort from outside the box. Just seconds before the end of the second half, Hunan broke the deadlock when Li Xiang managed to find the back of the net. His knock-on allowed him to break past the defensive line and just get onto the end of Cabezas’ lovely chip to put it over Yifang keeper Zhang Chong.
The second half continued in much the same fashion as the first until the 67th minute when Li Shuai went down in the Hunan box and handled the ball to give Billows a penalty. No complaints from the defender and it was clear to see the frustration from his teammates with Bangura giving him a talking to after the penalty was awarded. Cabezas stepped up and converted with a soft effort right down the middle. Li Shuai capped off a terrible day at the office when he was awarded a second yellow in injury time. Too late to affect the result but it was symbolic of a fairly shambolic performance from what should be a promotion chasing side.
A disappointing day for Yifang but they will look ahead to their next clash, a home game against Beijing BG.
