Guangzhou basks in CSL triumph
Print Edition
A 3-0 victory over Shanghai Greenland Shenhua in Guangzhou yesterday gave Fabio Cannavaro鈥檚 Guangzhou Evergrande its eighth Chinese Super League trophy in nine seasons.
The suspense over the winner of this year鈥檚 CSL championship was kept until the last round by Evergrande and Beijing Guoan, the latter just two points behind the leader. All eight matches of the last round kicked off at the same time yesterday afternoon.
Guoan needed to defeat Shandong Luneng at home and hope that Cannavaro鈥檚 side lost to Shenhua. Guoan triumphed 3-2, thanks to a 91st-minute goal, to finish runner-up on 70 points, two behind Guangzhou.
It has been an eventful year for the 46-year-old Cannavaro, who had a short spell at the helm of the Chinese national team in March before he decided to step down a month later citing the difficulty of coaching both the national and club teams AT the same time.
Cannavaro, in fact, appeared to be on the brink of the sack just a few weeks ago.
Evergrande was then top of the CSL but in the middle of a slump and club bosses put captain Zheng Zhi in temporary charge, telling Cannavaro to attend 鈥渃orporate culture training.鈥
The former Juventus defender and 2006 World Cup winner was retained as coach in early November but with a warning that he must 鈥渞aise the players鈥 overall fighting ability to win the Chinese Super League.鈥
Evergrande duly won its next two matches, notably against outgoing champion Shanghai SIPG, to put it on the brink of the title.
鈥淚 am very happy that our hard work was paid off,鈥 the Italian said after yesterday鈥檚 match at Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou, southern Guangdong Province. 鈥淚t was not that easy a match today, especially in the first half. The players were in a tight form considering it was a match to decide the championship. But I am proud of the players, who managed to conquer the difficulty, as well as all the many difficulties through the season.鈥
Striker Wei Shihao gave Evergrande the lead minutes before the interval. Park Ji-soo and Elkeson each contributed a goal in the second half to fix the score at 3-0. Evergrande鈥檚 eight CSL titles leveled the record of the most top-tier domestic league titles held by Dalian between 1994 and 2005.
SIPG whitewashed relegated Shenzhen FC, coached by another Italian Roberto Donadoni, 6-0 at Shanghai Stadium, thanks to the impressive foreign trio of Hulk, Oscar and Marko Arnautovic. Arnautovic scored four goals, Hulk and Oscar each added one.
Vitor Pereira鈥檚 team finished third on 66 points but its 2020 season will start early, as SIPG will take part in the preliminary round of next year鈥檚 AFC Champions League in January.
Jiangsu Suning, which beat Tianjin Tianhai 2-0 on Sunday, placed fourth on 66 points.
Shenhua ended the season in 13th place in the 16-team league on 30 points. Shenzhen and Beijing Renhe, which lost 0-2 at Rafael Benitez鈥檚 Dalian Yifang, were relegated.
But Shenhua鈥檚 season is not over yet as it will take on Shandong in the second leg of the CFA Cup final at Hongkou Football Stadium on Friday. Shandong, which finished fifth in the CSL with 51 points, holds a 1-0 advantage after a first-leg home victory last month.
鈥淚 want the players to hold their heads up when we go back to Shanghai, as we have a very important 90 minutes to play in five days,鈥 Shenhua鈥檚 South Korean manager Choi Kang-Hee said after the Sunday loss. 鈥淭he players have shown lax form since escaping the relegation zone. I hope they will adjust their mindset well and concentrate on the Cup final.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
