May 23rd, in
China Super League (soccer league)
Shanghai Seaport beat Chengdu Rongcheng 2-0 at home in the 13th round of the league. The New People's Evening News wrote that two local scorers with high hopes in this match
Wu Lei (1979-), Chinese footballer
together with
Wei Shihao (1988-), Chinese footballer
The performance was not eye-catching.
Chengdu Rongcheng, who was missing a number of key players in the backline, was quite resilient on the road and didn't give Shanghai Seaport too many chances to score effectively. Although the two teams looked like they were playing a lively game on the field, it was actually a lot of thunder but not much rain. Shanghai Seaport's mindset was a bit anxious to take down their opponents, which made them not as smooth as in the previous matches.
Compared to the devastating and goal-scoring matches in the previous matches, Shanghai Seaport played a much tougher game against a relatively close competitor. Had it not been for the mistakes or errors made by the opposing defenders, the outcome of the match would have been difficult to predict. However, Seaport showed enough resilience by maintaining the high pressure at the front throughout the game, especially in the final moments when they still continued to press and launch attacks, eventually forcing their opponents to be busy and make mistakes.
One of the main attractions of this game is the dialog between Wu Lei and Wei Shihao, two top local scorers. Both have been in excellent form this season, with Wu Lei topping the scoring charts with 14 goals in 12 matches, and Wei Shihao scoring 6 goals. Looking at the top 20 scorers, they are the only two local players left.
However, in this direct encounter, both did not get too many chances, and the occasional two or three flashes of brilliance failed to help the team build. Wu Lei and Wei Shihao's performances were a little flat against opponents of comparable strength.
With the national soccer team set to usher in the World Qualifier against Thailand, striker Wu Lei suspended for accumulating yellow cards and Zhang Yuning absent due to injury, many fans are pinning their hopes of scoring on Wei Shihao. Whether or not Wei Shihao can take up this heavy responsibility and help the Chinese men's soccer team to get this key victory has become the focus of attention of the fans.
