CSL Matchday 7 Recap

I started out this week 21-19, an average week this week with a couple of close games saw me go 4-4, for a total of 25-23 on the season. The big Friday night games were exciting and led the way for a really great weekend of football, let's get to it:

Beijing Guoan 0 - 0 Shanghai Shenhua : RIGHT
The full write up's here. Great, hard fought game, bad refereeing, and good goalkeeping meant Guoan walked away with a disappointing draw. Original Prediction: Beijing 1-1 Shanghai.

Tianjin Teda 0 - 1 Shandong Luneng : RIGHT
In the other Friday night action, Tianjin got off to a good start, pumped up by the home holiday crowd, with 2 excellent 1st half chances that they failed to put away, one of them, in the 21st minute, was on an open net. It was a tough game for Hao Junmin and Wu Wei'an and the rest of the Tianjin squad as chance after chance went just wide or was saved by big Li Leilei. After all that frustration, it had to kill them being beaten by a beautiful header from Han Peng with only 5 minutes left in the match. Original Prediction: Tianjin 1-2 Shandong.

Changchun Yatai 3 - 1 Shenzhen : RIGHT
This game got very exciting very early with Shenzhen stunning the home side with a headed goal 7 minutes into the game. It took Changchun almost the entire half, but they responded in the 41st minute when Du Zhenyu set up Cao Tianbao for the goal. The two combined on the other side of half time when Du to Cao equalled the go-ahead goal in the 49th minute. Ai Zhibo added a 3rd, and once again the goal was set up by Du, the home team walked away with an easy 3 points. Original prediction: Changchun 2-0 Shenzhen.

Qingdao Zhongneng 2 - 1 Shaanxi Zhongxin : WRONG
A perfect example of the age old expression, this is why they play the games. Shaanxi came into this game looking strong after beating Beijing the week before and even though they were on the road, they were licking their chops to play this fairly weak Qingdao side. However, Qingdao and veteran Qu Bo had different plans for this one. Qu was a promising youth player who came to prominence as a part of Milutinovic's 2002 World Cup, but since then he hasn't gotten a lot of attention and has remained with Qingdao, despite interest from other clubs. The first goal was a strange one, coming 10 minutes in, when a failed Shaanxi clearance was played back into the box, the defense was all ball watching and thought Qu was offside, the goalie was also asleep and Qu beat him to the ball and tucked it away on an empty net. Shaanxi came back with a great opportunistic header by Marvin Avila to level the game, though Qu put it away with a header in the last 10 minutes to give Qingdao all 3 points. Original Prediction: Qingdao 0-1 Shaanxi.

Guangzhou Baiyunshan 1 - 0 Jiangsu Sainty : WRONG
As was expected, these two teams went at each other in a very even match, with both sides getting good chances. That venue in Guangzhou is a very nice one, unlike a lot of the stadiums, fans seem really close to the pitch and there seems to be a nice slant so even the highest seats are still close to the action, I hope I can check it out at some point. Fortunately it seems like the Guangzhou fans are pretty civilized, if that was in Beijing, the field would be so covered with debris that it would be impossible to play. Anyways, back to the match, while Guangzhou had a few more chances than Jiangsu, both teams deserved a point, however, a questionable penalty kick was given to Guangzhou in the 84th minute. There were two fouls, one just outside the box that was more obvious and one inside the box that was a lot less so. Xu Liang stepped up and coolly knocked the penalty in, his league leading 6th goal (though half have been penalty kicks) to secure 3 points. Original Prediction: Guangzhou 1-1 Jiangsu.

Hangzhou Greentown 1 - 1 Chongqing Lifan : WRONG
On a rainy Saturday in Hangzhou, the home team disappointed the (small) crowd that came out. The highlight of the 1st half was Otto converting a penalty kick in the 24th minute after a Hangzhou player was pulled down in the box. The 2nd half was also fairly uneventful, except for a Chongqing goal scored not by Guinee, but he was important in setting it up, with a sweet pass across the middle and his fellow foreigner burying it to equalize the game and earn Chongqing a point. Original Prediction: Hangzhou 2-1 Chongqing.

Henan Construction 1 - 1 Chengdu Blades : WRONG
In the biggest surprise of the weekend, league leaders Henan only managed a point at home against cellar dwellers Chengdu. Right off the bat Chengdu opened things up with a goal in the 7th minute when Shi Jun shocked the home team off a free kick. Henan immediately went on the attack to equalize with their two headed attack of Netto and Olisadebe both producing good chances though it was Xu Yang who finally netted the equalizer in the 28th minute. From then on Henan dominated the chances, though they were unable to get another one past and were forced to settle for one point. Original Prediction: Henan 2-0 Chengdu.

Dalian Shide 1 - 0 Changsha Jinde : RIGHT
Changsha had to go on the road for only the 2nd time this season. Both teams were able to create some decent chances in the 1st half, with Changsha surprisingly looking like the better side (or at least the one with the more threatening attack). In the 2nd half, Dalian regrouped and looked the better side, finally scoring in the 60th minute when Dong Fangzhuo headed on a nice cross to Ahn Junghwan put it away. Whether or not Ahn was offside is something that can be debated, but the goal stood and Changsha was unable to respond. Original Prediction: Dalian 1-0 Changsha.