Taishan got off to a bad start in their first home game of the new AFC Champions League season when they suffered a 0-1 defeat against Yokohama Marinos. However, the team's performance in the second half brought a ray of light to the fans. After five high-intensity matches in 15 consecutive days, Taishan finally completed their intense schedule, followed by a short rest period.
In the match against Yokohama Marinos, Taishan was almost passive in the first half, especially in the last 15 minutes, when the rhythm was completely controlled by the opponent and they were caught in passive defense. It was during this period that the opponents managed to break through and ended the half 0-1 down. Whether it's ball control or the number of shots, Taishan is clearly behind. In the second half, Coach Choi Kang-hee made decisive substitutions and adjusted his tactics, and the situation quickly changed. However, Cressan's two shots were blocked by the goal post, which was unfortunate. In this game, Taishan team did not seem to get the favor of luck. After the game, Choi Kang-hee said that the first half failed to go according to plan, resulting in the team being passive, which is the main reason for the defeat. Coach Choi Kang-hee also made special mention of the two shots that hit the post in the second half of the game by Cressan, which he believed to be both a factor of power and a component of luck. In competitive sports, power and luck go hand in hand. The team still lacks in detail handling, and luck is not on Taishan's side. Before the match, Choi Kang-hee pointed out the huge difference between the CSL and the Asian Champions League. After the match, he emphasized this point again. He believed that compared to the CSL team, the Japanese team had a very different style of play, with a very well-organized short-pass attack in the midfield, and that the team was relatively unfamiliar and therefore had some problems. Despite their first home loss, which put Taishan in third place in the group, a resilient comeback in the second half gave fans hope. Next up, the team will face Incheon United in consecutive matches, two matches that they cannot afford to lose. After a grueling schedule of 5 matches in 15 days, the Chinese Super League entered the break. Taishan's next match will be against Changchun Yatai on October 20, and the team will enjoy a short vacation. Of course, for Wang Dalei, Chen Pu and Liu Yang, three members of the national team, they still need to prepare for the game and will join the national team to report soon.
