SIPG mauls 8-man Shenhua in fiery derby
Print Edition
THE surprising Shanghai SIPG crushed 8-man city rival Greenland Shenhua 5-0 in their first derby of the 2015 Chinese Super League season yesterday.
The victory meant that SIPG retained its position at the 16-team CSL standing on 21 points, four more than defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande. Evergrande takes on the third Shanghai team Shenxin today.
Greenland Shenhua had two players sent off in the first half yesterday — winger Lu Zheng put down SIPG’s Brazil midfielder Davi Rodrigues de Jesus and got a direct red in the 16th and in first-half injury time, Shenhua defender Bai Jiajun uppended Fu Huan and received a second yellow. Bai was almost in tears and kicked a water bottle box while leaving the pitch.
SIPG’s first goal came immediately afterwards, with Argentina midfielder Dario Conca scoring his first goal of the season on a direct free kick. Shenhua goalie Geng Xiaofeng touched the ball, but couldn’t stop the goal.
A total of 8 yellow cards and 2 reds were dished out by referee Ma Ning in the first half itself.
SIPG extended its advantage right after the break. Conca’s free kick bounced on the chest of defender Avraam Papadopoulos and fell into the net.
Shenhua’s Australian star Tim Cahill then removed the mask he had been wearing to protect his broken nose bridge.
After Wu Lei and Sweden striker Tobias Hysen scored the third and fourth goals for the hosts in the 52nd and 63rd, irate defender Li Jianbin began questioning the referee’s decision. Li was shown a second yellow for his efforts, leaving Shenhua struggling with eight men.
Another header from Hysen in the 71st completed the scoring.
Shenhua coach Francis Gillot only appeared briefly at the post-match press conference. The Frenchman preferred not to say much about the match but pointedly added, “too much comments will be against the CFA’s phenomenon” .
His counterpart Sven-Goran Eriksson was naturally pleased with his players’ performance but admitted that even for a coach of his long experience it was rare to see a team being given three red cards in one match.
“It’s not a shame for Shenhua today, but a shame for Shanghai soccer,” Shenhua’s official Weibo account said in a post after the match.
The derby began on a fiery note with Cahill and SIPG captain Sun Xiang bickering after some body contact, resulting in a yellow card for Cahill in the second minute. Even the “good tempered” Conca saw yellow for a foul on Shenhua’s Wang Yun in the first half.
“Neither team played good soccer in the opening 20 minutes,” commented former Shenhua coach Wu Jingui. “They were playing too offensively instead of focusing on making use of their techniques.”
Former team captain Liu Jun felt that a few Shenhua players were too emotional in the first half of the match. “The referee should have controlled the situation better,” he added.
A record 46,500 spectators turned out for the match at Shanghai Stadium. There was heavy police presence for the focus match between the league leader and 7th-placed Shenhua. The most eagerly anticipated derby in 12 years was sold out weeks before. The last derby to bring a similar fervor was the one between Shenhua and Shanghai International in 2002.
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