Sports
17:27, 20-Sep-2017
Shanghai Shenhua meets Shandong Luneng in Chinese Super League
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A Chinese Super League match that was postponed for nearly half a year due to a fire at Shanghai Shenhua's Hongkou Stadium, finally took place on Tuesday.
Unlike that blaze, the Blue Devils have not been hot this season, and came into the game on the back of five straight defeats. Leaving them desperate to turn things around against Shandong Luneng, who had also been struggling domestically, with three draws in a row.
There was an odd moment when the referee blew his whistle to end first the half, interrupting a flow of open play. Despite the protest from Luneng's players, the match went into the break scoreless.
Picture of Shenhua’s Cao Yunding in action. /CFP Photo
Picture of Shenhua’s Cao Yunding in action. /CFP Photo
Things looked good for the hosts from Shanghai early on, when Giovanni Moreno found space on the right flank and crossed to Cao Yunding, but his shot bounced off the post, and the fans seemed rather unimpressed.
The referee would feature prominently again, this time in the 60th minute, when Shenhua's Zhu Jianrong handled the ball, and Graziano Pelle broke free. But rather than let him play the advantage, the ref forced a free kick.
Despite the visitors infuriated response, the ref ignored their complaints and gave Zhu a yellow card.
The game ended in a 0-0 draw.
In the standings, six time champions Guangzhou Evergrande remain on top with 57 points, six ahead of SIPG. Hebei Fortune are another six behind in third while Tianjin Quanjian and Shandong Luneng round out the top five.
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