CSL Matchday 6 Preview Part 2

Due to some personal obligations, I sort of took a few days off, but I'm back and (almost) better than ever. Like a lot of Guoan fans, I'm looking forward to May 1, not for the holiday, but for our match against 9-1. Yes, it's about that time, the team formerly known as Shanghai Shenhua will now go by 9-1. My predictions were shit yesterday, so was the football, but there are some pretty tasty matchups to look forward to today, here goes:

4.26  15:30    Chongqing Lifan - Dalian Shide

However you want to slice or dice it, Chongqing's a crap football team.  Dalian is not, they've been mediocre for much of the season, but it seems like Ahn Junghwan is finally adjusting to the CSL and getting more opportunities.  While it's not always easy to play in Chongqing, this one should be pretty cut and dry.  Prediction: Chongqing 0-2 Dalian.

4.26  15:30     Chengdu Blades - Tianjin Teda

There was a time a few weeks back that Tianjin coming to town would be something to fear, now its nothing special.  This Tianjin side has been totally exposed as a solid attacking team with absolutely no defense.  Fortunately for them, Chengdu's attack isn't very strong and so Tianjin should have no problem outscoring them.  It's going to be a fight, but Tianjin should win in the end.  Prediction: Chengdu 1 - 2 Tianjin.

4.26  15:30     Changchun Yatai - 9-1

Changchun delivered an excellent fixture when they went head to head against Shandong, can they do the same against 9-1?  9-1 is coming off a midweek loss in Korea and will hope to regroup, their inconsistency over the season makes it hard to predict which 9-1 side will come out.  This being in Changchun, I have a feeling its going to be a pretty tight match.  Prediction: Changchun 1 - 1 Shanghai.

4.26  16:00     Shaanxi Zhongxin - Beijing Guoan

Our guys in green take on the northwest wolves on the road (full preview here), they're up for it, but this has been a pretty screwy weekend so far, I could definitely see this ending in a draw, but I'm confident in Guoan.  Prediction: Shaanxi 1 - 2 Guoan.

4.26  19:30     Shandong Luneng - Qingdao Zhongneng

We have derby day in Jinan as Shandong and Qingdao do battle in prime time.  Shandong only managed a midweek draw in Seoul, while Qingdao has struggled all season.  There's always talk about throwing the records out for a derby, and you gotta expect a lot of effort from Qingdao, but it takes more than effort to win a football match.  Shandong should cruise to a win, with Antar putting in one of the goals.  Prediction: Shandong 3 - 1 Qingdao.

CSL Matchday 5 Recap

A great weekend of action, though last night's FA Cup semifinal put me to sleep. As for my predictions, it was an impressive week, going 7-1 to finally have a winning record for the season at 19-13. Without further adu, here we go:

Shandong Luneng 2 - 2 Beijing Guoan : RIGHT
For the full wrap, go here. The first game was everything I hoped for, just too bad Guoan couldn't pull it out. Very exciting and Antar is damn good, Shandong must do everything they can to keep him. Original Prediction: Shandong 1 - 1 Beijing.

Tianjin Teda 0 - 2 Jiangsu Sainty : WRONG
Once again, Jiangsu's two Wuhan transfers carry the team to victory. Tianjin now moves down to 3rd place and the crowd of teams sitting on 9 points. Tianjin, while possessing a strong offense, is seriously lacking in defense (could this be due to loss of Matic?). On the other hand, Jiangsu's defense is incredibly stable and they were able to hold off the Tianjin attack, while responding with their own in the 2nd half. Original Prediction: Tianjin 2 - 1 Jiangsu.

Shanghai Shenhua 4 - 1 Shenzhen : RIGHT
It was defenders that did it for Shenhua, with Yanko Valkanov getting the only goal in a fairly ho hum 1st half, though things got more interesting in the 2nd when he and Du Wei both came up with goals. Shenzhen was able to get one past Qiu Shenjiong in the 72', but Gu Bin added one more in the 88' as Shanghai easily cruised past Shenzhen and into 2nd spot. Original Prediction: Shanghai 1 - 0 Shenzhen.

Dalian Shide 3 - 1 Hangzhou Greentown : RIGHT
Carried by Ahn Junghwan's brace (the 1st on a questionable spot kick) and one from Li Kai (a beautiful diving header off a corner), Dalian was carried to victory. While Hangzhou tried to make it interesting through a goal by Otto, it wasn't enough. Ahn transferred to Dalian this year and was supposed to be the difference maker, someone to bring this team back to glory and this week he was able to. This team is a player or two away from once again being a contender. Original Prediction: Dalian 2 - 0 Hangzhou.

Changchun Yatai 0 - 0 Shaanxi Zhongxin : RIGHT
Snore...Changchun was able to come up with a number of chances, but none good enough to get past the keeper, while Shaanxi did very little and should be happy to come out unscathed and with a point. I hate talking about these nil-nil matches and it seems there's one (or two) every weekend in the CSL. Original Prediction: Changchun 1 - 1 Shaanxi.

Henan Construction 2 - 0 Changsha Jinde : RIGHT
Henan's win puts them at the top of the table, with two goals before many fans even got to their seats from Olisadabe (3') and Xu Yang (5'). This huge shock to Changsha was too much and their typical defensive strategy was shot. They were unable to regroup, especially going a man down due to Wang Qiang's two yellow cards, both given during a very chippy 20 minutes or so in the 1st half. Original Prediction: Henan 1 - 0 Changsha.

Guangzhou Baiyunshan 3 - 1 Chongqing Lifan : RIGHT
Wet conditions in Guangzhou saw the visiting squad jump out to an early lead with a goal in the 19', however shortly before the end of the half Xu Liang nailed a long freekick and did his salute celebration for the 5th time (leading the league in scoring). Guangzhou added 2 more in the second half to seal the deal. This Guangzhou side's got some talent, they'll be in the middle of the table this year, but if they pick up a transfer or two, they have potential. Original Prediction: Guangzhou 2 - 0 Chongqing.

Qingdao Zhongneng 2 - 1 Chengdu Blades : RIGHT
Some very bad weather in Qingdao, though Chengdu was able to open the scoring in the 1st half, but failed to continue the attack. Qingdao came up with some good opportunities, but wasn't able to open their account. However, early in the 2nd half, Qingdao equalized off a booming header on a corner kick, then followed it up with another just before the end of the match. Original Prediction: Qingdao 2 - 1 Chengdu.

A great week for the CSL (and my predictions) and we have some Champions League matches to look forward to midweek before a full weekend of matches.

Matchday 5 Review - Shandong Luneng

Thought 1: Dude's got some hops!

Thought 2: "Everyone in a green shirt is a hero tonight" (courtesy of Joel Griffiths)

This was arguably Guoan's most well played match of the year, but most definitely the most entertaining of the year. Guoan lined up in a 4-4-2, rare for this season, with Griffiths and Martinez up top, Yang Hao and Huang Bowen on the wing, Tao Wei in attacking position with Matic in the holding position and Zhang Xinxin and Zhou Ting helping Xu Yunlong and Zhang Yonghai at the back.

Beijing started out controlling the ball, but very quickly were met with a Shandong counter attack. Unfortunately, just 2 minutes into the match, a beautiful cross was played into the box, just between Xu and Zhou who only watched as an outstretched Han Peng knocked it into the back of the net. After that, Guoan went back on the attack, in the 21st minute a great chance off a set play corner kick, though Griffiths knocked it high. Shandong went back on the counterattack and an almost identical situation to the first goal ensued, this time it was Li Jinyu instead of Han, but he couldn't put it away.

Shandong's defense was full of holes and Guoan did a great job finding them, unfortunately they just couldn't finish in the first half. It was a fairly physical first half, with 5 yellow cards and a strange red card, given to Zhou Ting just before the half came to an end. Shandong was given a corner kick in extra time in the 1st half, there was a player injured and all the sudden the camera showed the referee chasing after Zhou Ting, with Xu Yunlong chasing after the referee. It seemed that Zhou said something to referee Wang Xueqing that pissed him off.

So Beijing went into the locker room down 1 goal and 1 man on the road. How they decided to respond to that situation would say a lot about where this team is going this year. They responded fairly quickly. Early in the 2nd half, Martinez went on a slinky run, but kept the ball to himself and hit his shot wide. Shortly after, Tao Wei was taken off for Du Wenhui, a good move because Tao didn't have one of his better matches. Moments after coming on, Du made a difference, going on a run down the left wing and then crossing the ball in the middle only to have it go off a Shandong defender. It wasn't a pretty goal, but it was much deserved the way they were controlling the match.

Du attempted to push Guoan ahead with a long shot that challenged Li Leilei and was very impressive. Just as it appeared things were headed in the right direction, Shandong had a corner, which Antar headed on to Han Peng who was alone and wide open right in front of the keeper, Han finished it off easily for his second of the night.

With less than 20 minutes to go, it looked like this was the end, having fought to get the match to even, Guoan was now back in the hole. That wasn't the case at all as these guys had no quit in them. In the 77th minute, Li Leilei came way out to get the ball, but Martinez got there first, went around him, but failed to get the shot off in time. A little later Griffiths made a nice run, but was (rightly) flagged for offsides, a bit frustrated he elbowed the Shandong defender, but fortunately the referee missed it. Lee Jangsoo made another substitute, taking off Yang Hao and bringing on Yan Xiangchuang who, only a minute later, made the difference, stealing the ball from a Shandong defender and passing it to Griffiths, who put it away. 2-2 and the scene you see above of Lee running down the sidelines to celebrate with the players.

The game was back to even, but Guoan wanted all 3 points. Zhang Xinxin led a counter attack, giving the ball to Yan who made a great run, but shot it just wide, then Guoan had a 3 on 1 but nobody pulled off a shot. The last chance of the game came when Yan made a play in the box, though Li Leilei came up with a great save.

A draw at Shandong, all things considered, was a fairly decent result. One thing that has to be said, Roda Antar is damn good. He was all over the pitch, making an offensive play, then going all the way down the field and making a defensive play in his own box. The guy is crazy good.

Anyways, I've said it before, I'll say it again, this Guoan team goes hard. They haven't always played well this year, but they have yet to quit, always trying for 3 points. It's hard trying to award a Man of the Match for this one, so I'm giving it to Substitutes, as the two subs, Yang and Du changed this match.