The Dongbei Super League sides failed to score a single goal between them over the weekend with only Yanbian picking up a single point. In League One, Dalian hosted it’s first derby game of the season as Transcendence hosted Yifang.
Super League
Shanghai SIPG 4-0 Liaoning Whowin
Liaoning were humiliated on Sunday afternoon after succumbing to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of SIPG.
SIPG started as they meant to go on, racing out of the blocks and showing Whowin they were in for a long afternoon. Wu Lei missed an early chance but it was only moments later that Lv Wenjun opened the scoring when he converted Wang Shenchao’s cross from the right. It wasn’t long after Whowin had kicked off again when Wu Lei found himself running on goal only to see his effort tipped onto the post by Shi Xiaotian. They kept pushing and it was Elkeson’s turn to see a couple of chances going begging as it became clearer and clearer that it wouldn’t be long before the score was 2-0. A rare chance for Whowin went wide after Toure found himself in a bit of space and knocked the ball over the oncoming Yan Junling, only for the ball to bounce just right of the post. Yet another chance for SIPG was denied by Shi Xiaotian after he expertly saved Dario Conca’s whipped shot from the right side of the box. Liaoning pushed for an equalizer but both Chamanga and Jin Taiyan failed to take their chances and never really troubled the SIPG defense. The inevitable happened just minutes before the break when Wu Lei got onto the end of Conca’s brilliant through ball and finished beautifully to make it 2-0.
Liaoning started the second half in much better fashion, a series of three chances culminated in the ball smashing against the crossbar but ultimately couldn’t get them back in the game. Shi Xiaotian once again made a great save to deny Elkeson from a free-kick but it wasn’t long before the forward finally got the ball into the back of the net when he made a brilliant finish from the edge of the box and put the Shanghai side three ahead. Wu Lei almost made it 5-0 after he had a goal disallowed and wasted another chance by smashing the ball right at the legs of the Whowin goalkeeper. Elkseson went off for Gyan and it only took two minutes for the Ghanaian forward to get himself on the scoresheet when he rounded the goalkeeper to put Wu Lei’s through ball into the back of the net and complete the rout.
Ma Lin conceded that SIPG totally justified the score line and said the match was a lesson in their respective capabilities as football sides. Liaoning now have just one point from their last three matches and will be hoping to pick up all three points when they return home to Shenyang next week and take on Tianjin Teda.
Changchun Yatai 0-1 Hebei CFFC
Changchun once again did little to dispel fears that this season will be the straw that broke the camel’s back as they played out a dull 1-0 home defeat against Hebei CFFC.
The first half produced nothing of note, with only Lavezzi and Gervinho coming close to opening the scoring and Moreno doing the same for the home side. The second half was slightly more action packed but there was nothing to suggest an opening goal would be coming soon. That was until the 59th minute when Gervinho picked up the ball in midfield and rolled it out to Luo Senwen who took a touch and scored an absolute screamer from 40 yards out. A wonderful effort and it really knocked out what little energy Changchun had left in them. The rest of the match was played out without either side really threatening to score the game’s second goal.
Yatai manager Stojanovic said in his post-match comments that luck was not on Changchun’s side and that he believed they were undone by a moment of brilliance rather than being outplayed. While it’s true that their defensive performance was much better than last week’s 4-4 spectacle it’s still a concern that they have only picked a single point in four matches and sit firmly at the bottom of the table. They travel to Chongqing next week where they’ll be hoping to pick up their first win of the season.
Guangzhou R&F 0-0 Yanbian Fude
After the elation of last week’s win against Guoan, Yanbian played out an anti-climatic 0-0 win in Guangzhou.
R&F opened the game with a couple of half chances before Yanbian had a great chance to open the scoring when Ha-Tae Goon broke the offside trap but directed his flick just wide of the net. R&F hit back with a few decent chances, the closest being Wang Song’s deadly free kick that dipped down onto the top of the net. The first half ended with a few more chances from both teams but nothing that really threatened to put either side up going into the break.
The second half opened in a subdued manner and it wasn’t until after the hour mark that there was any action worthy of note. Ha-Tae Goon made another well timed run to beat his marker on 66 minutes but he couldn’t quite make the finish before Cheng Yuelei gathered the ball. Just a few minutes later Svensson attempted to finish from way outside the box only to se his effort deflected away to safety. The contest was starting to heat up and moments later R&F had another chance to grab the game’s first goal. Wang Jianan’s cross from the right was poorly dealt with by the Fude defense and fell to the feet of Wang Song. His attempt to poke it in was thwarted by Pei Yuwen who got across just in time to keep the ball out. Yanbian fought back and two minutes later had their own chance to score. Sun Jun was put through on goal and cleverly evaded Cheng Yuelei who had rushed off his line, however his cross was poor and couldn’t find Seung-Dae Kim who was waiting in the box. Their best chance though would come just a few minutes from time when Jin Bo found the head of Ha-Tae Goon who could only head the ball into the goalkeeper from four yards out. An uncharacteristic miss from the Korean and one he’ll want to quickly forget.
Five points from their opening four matches is nothing to be sniffed at, especially when three of those games have been on the road and they have taken on Guoan, Jiangsu and Shenhua in the process. Games like these though are ones where they need to pick up points and make use of their quick breaks and sharp finishers. They face struggling Shandong away next week, can they pile on the misery for Jinan side?
League One
Dalian Transcendence 0-2 Dalian Yifang
The first Dalian derby of the season took place this weekend with Transcendence hosting Yifang. The guests went home happiest though as they secured a 2-0 win on their neighbour’s own turf.
The game got off to the kind of start you’d expect from a derby, Transcendence having a chance go just wide and Yifang having a shot cleared off the line down the other end. Mushekwi battled his way into the box a few minutes later but couldn’t quite find the space to put the guests ahead. Another big chance was wasted as Mushekwi’s long shot wasn’t handled well by the Transcendence goalkeeper and the rebound wasn’t put into the back of the open goal. 26 minutes into the first half, Yifang finally broke the deadlock. A cross from the left found the head of Mushekwi who got up high enough to expertly put it past the rooted Guo Wei. The first half ended with a couple more chances for the visitors but the score remained 0-1.
The second half’s first chance came though Paraiba as he fought his way through the Yifang defense only to his shot go high and wide. Both sides saw chances go begging at either end of the pitch before Yifang took the initiative and made it 0-2 on 76 minutes. Sun Bo put in a lovely free kick from the left which captain Cao Xuan rose up to meet and head into the back of the net. They might have made it 3-0 when Mushekwi pushed forward into space but he could only smash his shot wide of the right hand post. Both sides pushed for another goal but the score remained at 0-2 when the final whistle was blown.
The derby win puts Yifang up into third place just three points below the top two. Transcendence drop to 12th and are still looking for a win after their opening day victory over Shenxin. Both teams will compete in the CFA cup this week, Yifang take on Baoding Rongda in Hebei and Transcendence head south to take on Chengdu Qianbao.
