But after the lore, he still had to reflect on himself and save Shenhua's championship. Wu Xi saved the team
The Shenhua team had all the advantages on the field, but they were unable to score. The Shenhua coach Sluts, who was watching the game on the sidelines, went from "shaking and laughing" to nervously swallowing his saliva. In the 93rd minute, Xie Pengfei took a corner kick, Wu Xi jumped high in front of the goal and headed the ball, which hit the post and went into the net. At this moment, the emotions of the Shenhua team were released.
On the evening of June 30, in the 17th round of the Chinese Super League, Shanghai Shenhua defeated Qingdao West Coast, which was at the bottom of the standings, 1-0 away, and brought back 3 points with difficulty. Currently, Shenhua is still 2 points behind the Chinese Super League leader Haigang.
Shenhua's goal in this game was to get all three points, but playing away from home and facing a relegation team's desperate fight, it was not easy to win the game. Qingdao team knew that there was a gap in strength, had a clear positioning, and had a relatively thorough study of Shenhua's tactics, responding with defensive counterattacks and attacking from both wings. After the opening, both sides found good opportunities in front of the goal. Shenhua failed to score early, and the pressure on the players increased little by little as the game progressed.
Match data showed that Shenhua had 64% of the ball and Qingdao had 36%. Shenhua had 24 shots, 10 of which were on target, while Qingdao had 8 shots, 2 of which were on target. Shenhua attacked Qingdao's goal many times, but Qingdao goalkeeper Shi Xiaotian was able to block the ball with his own strength. The goal in stoppage time was a sign of luck favoring Shenhua at the last moment.
So far this season, Shenhua has conceded an average of 0.35 goals per game, the best in the league, but has only scored 35 goals. Haigang has scored 53 goals, third-place Chengdu Rongcheng has scored 42 goals, and even fourth-place Beijing Guoan has scored 34 goals. Shenhua's low goal conversion rate is obvious. In the match against the weak Qingdao team, this embarrassment was magnified again. A large number of opportunities in front of the goal were wasted, which made Shenhua fans feel distressed.
After the game, Slutsky concluded, "This victory is very important to us, and it was also very hard to play. We created a lot of opportunities in this game, but we didn't seize them. I'm glad that our players persisted and worked hard until the last minute of the game. I think my players deserve this victory, and the goal at the last minute is the best reward for the team's efforts."
An old man in the family is like a treasure. No one would have thought that Wu Xi, the oldest player in the team, would become the key man, saving Shenhua and Scolari, and prolonging the team's championship. But a truly strong team certainly does not rely on luck to achieve its dream. Malele, Luis, Teixeira, the foreign attack trident, did not perform stably, and the latter two failed to score in many games.
In the second half, Xie Pengfei replaced Luis. Slutsky explained, "In the last match against Meizhou, Luis had a minor injury. During the halftime break, Luis said he really couldn't hold on, so we made the substitution."
Before the game, Slutsky said that the league has entered a more intensive phase and the team currently has no room for error. When asked whether this would bring pressure to the team and affect the performance of the players, he replied, "For a team in the championship position, there will be omnipresent pressure at all times. If we are only satisfied with being in the middle, there will indeed be no pressure. But this kind of pressure is what we are willing to bear."
The starting lineup is rarely rotated, and Slutsky's way of using people has caused a group of main players to become tired. In order to play the best cards in his hand and to catch the opponent by surprise, at this stage, Slutsky can only be given time to deploy personnel and new tactics.
Xu Haoyang played as a left back for two consecutive games. In this regard, Slutsky said, "Our current technical and tactical style requires the offensive attributes of the two full-backs to be more prominent. Xu Haoyang got an assist in the last game, and he also sent a lot of crosses in this game."
Only by playing more balanced offensive football can Shenhua get rid of the current predicament of few goals, which is also the core of a truly strong team. Slutsky certainly does not want to be the "Russian Mourinho" and advocate the "1-0 doctrine".
Celebrate when you should, and reflect when you should. Thumbs up to Wu Xi's golden goal. At the same time, the team must have a clear understanding of the current problems and find solutions. Facing the voices of the outside world to replace foreign players, the club may need more determination, set goals, and take several steps. Of course, winning is always the hard truth.
